New Store Offers Training, Jobs For D218 Students With Special Needs

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Community High School Dist. 218 will open a first-of-its-kind, full-service retail store that trains adult students with special needs who have graduated from Richards, Eisenhower and Shepard high schools.

High 5 Heights (H5H), 12213 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights, will throw open its doors Wednesday, Nov. 29, with a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. The site features a full retail store and training site where adult transition students will learn heat transfer press, laser engraving, embroidery, Cricut, graphic design, and other transferable work skills.

The grand opening will feature a ribbon cutting, coffee and doughnuts, and an introduction to the store. Right now the store carries a lot of holiday merchandise, but the inventory will rotate often with the seasons.

No school district in Illinois, and perhaps anywhere, operates a full retail store like this. H5H will sell goods including custom clothing, seasonal décor, greeting cards, wood working, crochet, paintings and drawings, and much more, all created by ATP students and graduates.

The store also will carry goods created by adults with special needs who sell at a regional and national level. Half of the products will also be purchased from wholesale vendors and sold at H5H.

H5H will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and most Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and provide retail store training opportunities such as customer service, communication, and quality control.