When Bingham renamed its school store “The Mine,“ they didn’t intend for Bingham Miners to take it so literally. On December 19, 2013, “gold diggers” broke into the store in hopes to find riches. While they didn’t find any gold, they found a good chunk of money. The thief/thieves fled the scene with newly filled pockets, and left a long road of hardship for the already struggling school store.

Two days before Christmas break the thief or thieves were able to get their hands on a few hundred dollars, and the Mine is scrambling to make up for the deficit. In order to make up for the loss, the Mine has had to raise prices and use intense marketing strategies.

“It’s been a sad, sad thing that those thefts have happened, and I’m just disappointed that those students wouldn’t be more respectful because it’s hurt a lot of people and a lot of programs when they did that,” said marketing teacher Breckon Heywood. “But we’re making changes, we’re making it better, we’re going to keep going, I’m not going to let this stop me.”

The break-in was discovered during 8th period, when students noticed the cash register door was open and empty. Mrs. Heywood was unable to look into the crime scene until after school. The Mine was closed the following day, December 20, in order to get the situation under control.

The store is located on the south end of the lunch room on the opposite side of the stage. During the time of the crime, the store had a faulty door lock and the metal gate didn’t close all the way, which left nearly a 6 inch gap between the counter and the gate bottom. Due to this, the cash registers were partially exposed and entering the Mine was easy access for the burglar(s).

Despite all the students around at the time, the robbers went unseen by any students and may or may not have been caught on camera. The case is currently being investigated by Officer Scott Russell, the school cop. Detective Russell declined to comment on the case due to the fact that it is still under investigation.

Since the break-in, the Mine has undergone quite a few security changes. Junior Mckayli Abbe, who worked in the store last semester, explained, “They changed the locks on the gates and the POS system, so that it’s harder for internal theft. [Heywood] also got a new policy including training for the students inside the store.” With the new lock on the door, fixed gate, and new employment rules and regulations, the school store should be more secure.

“The school store is now a tryout class, so they actually have to go through an interview with me and apply to be in the school store. They actually have to go through certain parts of it like have at least a 2.9 GPA, and I would prefer them to have taken another marketing or business class so I kind of know who they are,” said Mrs. Heywood. “So we’re requiring a little bit of background because there’s money involved. We also have to ensure that there is just better checks and balances. You know, sometimes it’s hard because we have different groups that work in the store every week and every day, and so we’re just having multiple people in the group double check that things are happening.”

The Mine also now has an adult or trusted manager in place at all times, and the keys are only handled by Mrs. Heywood.

“We’ve really tightened down a ton,” stated Mrs. Heywood. We’re really being careful as to how we do things, how we’re watching things. It’s pretty tight now, people will not get away with doing that again. Not even get away with, we’re preventing it before it’s happening.”

Needless to say, next time someone tries to break in, it won’t be so easy for them.