IN this recurring column, The Lion”s Roar staff will be taking a look into teachers” lives outside the classroom. Many assume that teachers are just boring, uninteresting individuals who spend all their time figuring out new ways to torture students, but we are going to work to change that perception. Well maybe not the “torture” part.
Creativity: that was the word that inspired Ms. Tamara Woods to venture off and open a candy store. The 9th grade literature teacher is the proud owner of Tam Tam’s Sweet Shoppe located at 629 Arnold Avenue in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ which has been operating for around a year and a half.
When asked how she is able to handle both jobs, Ms. Woods said that she tries to keep them separate. She tries to stay occupied with students at school but does admit that sometimes it is difficult not to talk about the store especially when students know about her entrepreneurship. “The love I have for both is amazing” Woods said, “It is amazing how much I learned and how much support from the people and faculty here at North that I have received.”
At school, Ms. Woods can be seen discussing The Odyssey by Homer with her students or grading papers. However, once she leaves Middletown High School North, her life also consists of dunking strawberries into chocolate, making seat salt caramels, coconut clusters and preparing original displays and bouquets made up almost entirely of candy.
One recent special order that Woods had constructed included a chocolate mold the size and the shape of an actual football. Inside the hollowed football, Woods packed it with chocolate-covered potatoes chips and bacon. On the outside, Woods detailed every stitch and lace and wrapped it in the team’s colors. However, Tam Tam’s does not cater to just to sports fans. The store also sells other candy creations such as candy trees, small chocolate houses, edible aquariums and giant moustaches made entirely out of chocolate.
The store front of Tam Tam’s hosts a vivid yellow window with a sign proclaiming that the Redshirt sophomore Mitch Leidner didnt dazzle in his first spring high school football game at Minnesotas unquestioned starting quarterback, but he did prove a steady influence on an offense that played it close to the vest much of the day. store also sells ice cream in one of the squares. Over the window and door, a pinkish-purple awning protects the precious candy from being melted by the sun’s UV-rays. Inside, the walls of the store are painted bright pink and lime welcoming patrons into a bright and cheery environment that looks much like the game of Candy land just without the Gumdrop Pass. In addition to just selling candy at the store, Tam Tam’s also hosts birthday parties.
In addition to penny-candies and gigantic lollypops, Tam Tam’s also offer a variety of specialty candies. Their best seller, the chocolate covered bacon, is not the only
thing dipped in chocolate. In addition to the classical chocolate covered strawberries, Tam Tam’s also offers chocolate covered grapes and chocolate covered pineapple. The store has even added a sea salt chocolate bar to the menu for patrons who want something sweet and salty. Tam Tam’s is also experimenting with artisan chocolates infused with pumpkin oil in order to give the chocolate a pumpkin taste.
Candy is not the only thing sweet at Tam Tam’s. The store also makes donations to worthy causes in the communities. These include, but are not limited to, a local soccer club, the local Pop Warner football team and The Key Club of Point Pleasant.
When asked about the future of Tam Tam’s, Ms. Woods said that she wishes to expand her business. Her store has recently been invited to a local wine-chocolate tasting event in the upcoming October. However, now in the present, Woods is jubilant with the current success of her business. She says that does it for the love of being creative and to see the smiles on her patron’s faces. “Everybody’s happy. They walk in smiling and they leave trying to smile but its hard since they’re chewing.”
