Miqueyla Lopez

Sophomore Alex Schumert poses in a lacrosse shirt he printed himself.

In an effort to spend time with his dad, sophomore Alex Schumert joined the family t-shirt making business, Gateway Screen Printing, which was founded in 2010.

“My dad wants me to takeover the business, but it’s not my kind of work. There is a lot of physical strain,” Schumert said. “You can get tennis elbow from it. And with the machines we have right now, it’s a lot of bending over, which is a lot to do, and it hurts.”

After starting to work for his dad last year, Schumert now knows that he does not want to do this long-term, but still continues to help.

“I really don’t know what I want to do,” Schumert said. “I get bored really easily. If something doesn’t capture my attention, or if I don’t think it’s fun, I will not stay with it very long.”

Gateway Screen Printing recently printed shirts for West Middle to give to students. Over 17 boxes of shirts were printed with 72 shirts per box, for a grand total of so 1,200 shirts.”

“I was so relieved after we finished the order,” Schumert said. “It was a lot of work, and we had to do an order for [Parkway] Central’s Special Olympics at the same time. We were really busy, I was happy when it was over.”

While Schumert is at school, his dad prepares the screen to paint shirts. Using emulsion, a water-based paint, he sets the design to dry in a dark room.

“The process goes a lot faster when my dad does this,” Schumert said. “That way when I help him, we just get it all done for that day.”

After the screen has dried, it is then set out in the light for an hour. When the design is taken off, the leftover emulsion is then wiped off. This creates a visible design.

“We pour ink at the bottom of the screen after that. Then we use the squeegee to pull the ink over the screen and onto the shirt,” Schumert said. “To use multiple colors, we take part of the design and cover it with tape so that we are able to keep it clean for another color.”

After the design is put onto the shirt, Schumert places it on a conveyor belt to go through the 350 degree drier for 10 seconds. Finally, the shirt passes through the conveyor belt, Schumert takes it off, folds it and puts it in a box to be shipped.

“I don’t really feel anything after completing just one shirt,” Schumert said. “I still realize how much more have to be printed, and how long it is going to take. After we complete an order, I feel so good about myself. Knowing that I’m making my dad’s life easier by helping him makes me feel good about myself.”

Although Schumert does not particularly enjoy making shirts, he enjoys the quality time he can spend with his dad.

“I have only ever grown up with the bond with my dad,” Schumert said. “My mom isn’t really around. She works from 4 a.m. to 8p.m. everyday. So I’m pretty thankful that printing shirts has brought me closer with my dad.”

Schumert has noticed a change in his relationship with his dad after starting to work with him.

“I’m really thankful for the opportunity to make my bond with my dad even stronger,” Schumert said. “ I wanted to help him succeed with his business, which is why I decided to help him. I owed him for all he has done for me.”