My students have the odds stacked against them. Over 90% live in poverty and many are learning English as their second language.
Our school is an anomaly when compared to the surrounding schools in the area.
We are a very small rural community on the outskirts of a growing metropolitan area. Despite being a short drive from Fortune 500 companies there is an inaccurate stigma that permeates the student body.
Recently, thanks to a growing population and new businesses in town, the district has overcome financial issues and the threat of consolidation. Our career and technical education classes are ready to empower the students to reach their full potential.
My Project
These materials will allow us to integrate a school store into our new marketing and small business program of study. Working in cooperation with another teacher in the building we plan to take a small, unused room in the back of the library, and transform it into a coffee shop and school store. This project is being launched off of the success of our previous DonorsChoose project which started a t-shirt business, Paw Prints. We will use the profits from our t-shirt sales to purchase school supplies, but these items will help us take the business to our community and beyond.
With this program, teaching financial literacy will be key.
The students do not currently have dedicated financial literacy instruction. This school store will give them a real world example of how to stick to budgets, understand what profit and loss are, and the opportunity to work on soft skills that employers need from new employees. They can then apply those lessons learned managing and working in the school store to their personal lives as they begin to enter the workforce.
Our community is small and rural. Having the Square point-of-sale system will allow us to use an iPad to keep track of our sales and to accept credit cards as payment. It also gives us access to an online store so the students can sell items to anyone, anywhere. The canopy, tables, and grid units will allow us to set up at school sporting events and our town barbecue.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." This project will involve the students and help them to learn what it takes to successfully manage money and become our next generation of entrepreneurs.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. VanDenBerg and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
