Heather Dugdale opens up the student store each morning at 7:30 a.m. If you look closely at her hand as it turns the key, you will probably see a fun design on her nails. 

“It is definitely a creative expression, and I usually do it based on months, like themes,” Dugdale said. “For Valentine’s Day, I’ll have something fun … I had ‘Wicked’ nails because I just loved the movie ‘Wicked.’ I’ve had some flower nails. It just makes me smile, it makes me happy.” 

Before 8 a.m., when students begin arriving on campus, Dugdale turns on the computers and gets the cash register out of the safe. She describes this time as “mellow,” and the 15 minutes before school starts as a “busy time.” With winter formal tickets on sale, students are visiting the student store more frequently. 

While students are in class, a number of other tasks await Dugdale. As the ASB Accounting Assistant, she is in charge of the finances for ASB activities and club organizations on campus. 

“There’s kind of a lull with people coming in, but that’s when I do most of the paperwork and prepping for things,” Dugdale said. “Every week, ASB has a finance meeting, so that’s when they do all the approvals for activity requests, [purchase orders], checks, all of that, and so I gather whatever has come in the week before and prepare that. It usually does take four or five hours to prepare everything for those meetings so I’ll take my time to do that.” 

In addition, Dugdale handles parent communications regarding student fines, assisting them with payments. On 1-3-5-7 days when the ASB class is held, two Student Commissioners of Fashion and Merchandising, Ava HeSchenk (11) and Tyler Suhar (11), come into the student store to help stock the shelves and take inventory. 

The next busy time for the student store is during lunch. As the clock ticks down to 1:05 p.m., students flood out of their classrooms to pepper Dugdale with questions such as “Can I buy a formal ticket?” and “How do I pay the fine on my account?” or even “What do the financials look like for my club?” While most staff at school get a break during lunch, Dugdale remains hard at work. Students filter in and out of the store, buying tickets for upcoming dances, paying for fines or returning school property. 

Dugdale is responsible for handling technology, distributing merchandise and managing purchases via card or cash on both small and large scales. She is in charge of paying for bigger purchases such as vendors for dances, which she must keep close record of, and also smaller purchases such as students purchasing a ticket. Despite having a completely different professional background, she is both knowledgeable and efficient regarding the school’s finances.

“My formal training is as a lawyer,” Dugdale said.  “I have a JD, but I also have been … a nonprofit executive director and I’ve also worked for some of the largest nonprofits in the county. What brought me here, to this position in particular, was … [that] one of the ASB Accounting Assistants at Canyon Crest Academy went out on a long-term leave, so I was there for about nine months. Fast forward, she had left that position and the person [here at TPHS] went [to CCA] and so they reached out to me because I had experience in the position specifically. I haven’t had formal accounting training necessarily but my legal background and my background as an executive director qualified me … [my] professional background has helped me and supported me in the role.”

Over the year and a half as ASB Accounting Assistant, Dugdale noted that one major success related to the student store was increased student involvement through ASB. 

“We have new commissioners — [ASB members who handle the concession stands] and the Commissioners of Fashion and Merchandising — that we’ve given the students an opportunity to take more ownership of what happens in the student store,” Dugdale said. “That’s been very successful and the students have worked really well.”

With successes also come some challenges. 

“If I’m out, the store has to close because it’s a really hard job to fill just with a substitute,” Dugdale said. “It takes too much to train somebody. I was out for a couple of days last week and that creates a challenge because … I don’t have a backup.”

The student store inspires a sense of community through the activities, merchandise and events that it promotes.

“Everything we do here is about community activities whether it’s dance tickets, senior week or even when people have questions about the campus that may not even be related to the student store, I seem to be a hub for being able to ask those questions,” Dugdale said. “I think that creates that sense of there’s a place to go, and those questions can be answered.”

At 4 p.m., Dugdale locks up the student store on a mostly silent campus. The clock ticks down to the late afternoon but this time, there are no shouts and chatter of students like Dugdale heard throughout the day. She locks the door — until tomorrow. 

“I have three girls who graduated from Torrey Pines,” Dugdale said. “My last one just graduated in 2024. People ask me ‘How is it to be an empty nester?’ and coming to school everyday and having this job in particular really fills my cup …  My girls are off and doing their own thing but it’s really nice to be able to come to school and work with the students as directly as I do. [I’m] able to have my fun and funky nails and just be myself because I like to have fun with it too.”