WC third-graders hop on to the entrepreneurial train
Students, staff and parents enjoyed a day of shopping for some unique products during the Walnut Creek Elementary Third Grade Economic Fair.
Holmes County is widely recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit.
Perhaps it’s because its residents start practicing at a young age.
The annual Walnut Creek Elementary Third Grade Economic Fair took place Friday, May 17 in the school gymnasium, where teacher Tonya Widder’s third-graders put their business skills to work in designing a business concept for a product and developing a sales and marketing strategy for their respective products.
Each of the students created their own products, set up tables complete with signs, and then set about selling their products to classmates and parents who were invited to participate in the event.
“Each kid chose their own product, named it, came up with a slogan or logo, looked at the cost of the ingredients or parts, and came up with a base price,” Widder said.
She said they even discussed raising the price if a product becomes a hot seller and discounting prices to where they could still make a profit should the day roll along and they still had products to sell.
“The kids had to design their entire economic plan for their product,” Widder said. “It’s really a fun way to introduce kids to the business world and to how they can get excited about maybe one day starting their own business. Holmes County is so well known for its enterprising entrepreneurs.”
The day provided a journey into the world of business and marketing for the third-graders, one that took them out of the classroom setting and made for a memorable day.
Claire Mishler made cute animal bookmarks that settle nicely on the corner of a book page. An avid reader, she said she was interested in designing something she was passionate about.
“I didn’t want something just plain, and I like the way these bookmarks sit on the top corner and that they are fun animal designs,” she said. “These are mostly my favorite animals.”
Elijah Riehle made energy bites and didn’t have any problem coming up with his product.
“These are basically my favorite snack. It’s my after-school snack,” he said.
Riehle said it is fun to come up with an idea and then get it from idea to product to sell.
Gil Miller may have had one of the catchier slogans of the day, his chocolate truffles called Mini-Einsteins with his slogan stating, “They’ll make you smart, like Einstein.”
True or not, in advertising it’s all about drawing attention to your product and making it memorable.
“I don’t know where I came up with that,” Miller said. “It just kind of came to me, and I thought it was fun. I liked being creative in this project.”
Widder said Miller was so excited about this day that he barely slept at all the night prior.
If his product didn’t make people smarter, it certainly satisfied the sweet tooth in them.
One table away Lilly Miller was peddling her cotton candy product. She was sold out almost before the event began, as people flocked to her stand.
Widder invited her to team up with another classmate to promote their product.
Widder said this is the culmination of the year for her students, and they build up to this moment in preparing for it.
She said they will do some analyzation of the sale the final week of school, discuss who was the most successful and why, and total all the funds.
What comes next provides the perfect capper to the event.
“Once we total up all the money, the class as a whole will decide who to donate the proceeds to,” Widder said.
She said this sale also creates a fun time for community members and parents to gather together and build relationships, making it the ideal opportunity to become everything involved with becoming an entrepreneur.