Sixth-graders make charity their business
Program teaches entrepreneurship
Westborough businesses donated $8,800 to the Jimmy Fund this week, but it wasn't closing sales on suits that made it happen.
Rather, about 300 11- and-12-year-olds at the Mill Pond School brainstormed the ideas, drew up the business plans, and raised start-up capital.
The sixth-graders put their businesses to the test last week with a five-hour, one-day sale.
Enthusiasm abounded despite the scorching heat, as students fervently pitched their products with shouts of "Three necklaces for $1!" and "Betty Boop Bakery -- make your life sweeter!"
Now in its third year in Westborough, the Biz Kids program teaches sixth-graders curriculum and life skills in math, advertising, marketing, budgeting, conflict resolution, and other areas.
"It's just phenomenal when you walk up, and you see all these kids running businesses -- and it's literally on their own," said Stephanie Garrett, the sixth-grade teacher who started the program. Garrett said that this year's Biz Kid efforts earned $9,227, of which $8,800 went to charity. "They weren't learning about the real world -- they were in the real world," Garrett said. "The risks were real, and that's what made it exciting for them."
Most students polled said the value of hard work was the biggest lesson learned. "As fun and easy as it may look, it's challenging," sixth-grader Josh Diamond said. "If you want to have a good business, you have to work hard. You can't slack off."
"You have to put in a lot of hard work, because it took us months -- from February to June -- to get this ready," student Kyle Reed-Edwards said.
With more than an hour left in last week's sale, Edwards and his partners in a group called Items from the Lost Ark took in $80, surpassing their goal for the day. The boys made a series of Lego toys based on Indiana Jones, the archeologist and adventurer portrayed by Harrison Ford in the George Lucas film series. The team also sold water-balloon yo-yos and stress balls filled with sand and flour.
Students started their lessons in entrepreneurship in March and followed the business cycle of a startup.
The search for seed money found some students doing extra chores, while others solicited donations from local businesses or tapped parents' resources. Students also had the option of borrowing money, courtesy of the school store, from the Biz Kids Savings and Loan run by sixth-grade teacher Joan LaBossiere.
Nicole Atkinson washed her parents' cars to raise money and also networked with her father, a merchandising vice president at
"I think it's just fabulous," Michael Atkinson said. "My daughter never realized how much work went into doing this -- from raising seed money and just the organization and putting together a website. It was quite an experience for my daughter. Now she'll ask me questions when she goes into BJ's."
Atkinson and her partners formed a group called Mix Up and adopted the slogan, "Where normal is out of style." Their 530 products included Beanie Babies, decorated cups, pens, and pencils. They also raffled a boom box and two "Sponge Bob" CD players.
Let's Get Personal was the name of another business that started operations before last week. The team launched its helmet and hat personalization service at Westborough's opening day baseball parade.
"We opened a booth and explained about our products," student Ray Pattanaik said. "The word spread, and we got larger and larger. It became a big hit. Everybody started buying them."
Pattanaik and his partners made more than $300 on sales that ran from 50 cents for a vinyl "W" to $3.50 for the "baseball combo" package.
"We thought a lot of people want their names on it likes the pros," said Bobby Thompson, whose father donated the vinyl lettering machine used by the students.
Students' presale work included figuring unit costs and setting prices, although some booths marked down their products as the day wore on to attract more customers.
"We had to lower prices, because some things weren't selling," Karly Murphy said. "Other than that, it was really fun. The math helped me, because we couldn't use cash registers or things that did the math for us."
Murphy and her "How Bizarre" classmates made $365 from selling paddle balls, gumball machines, spray fans, and suction balls at an average price of $1.50.
Ninety of the sixth-graders put their classmates' products to the test with a Consumer Reports-type magazine prior to the sale. Another group researched worthy charities and presented students six choices for a vote.
The philanthropy aspect of the program is just as important as advancing students' curriculum skills, according to Garrett, who said Biz Kids raised $4,000 last year.
"They learn that they can be independent and help people at an early age, which is a pretty powerful lesson to learn when you're a sixth-grader," she said.
