Students at Normandy and Westerly get a first-hand experience in how to
succeed in business each year. The program pairs first-graders (in Diane
Poretsky's class) with fourth-graders (in Barb Woodburn's class) in an
enterprise that includes manufacturing and marketing key chains made of
brightly-colored beads.
Started with a grant from the Bay Village
Education Foundation in 1997 (written by Barb Woodburn and retired
teacher Nancy Glinka), the program won the
Economics America and Harvard Business School Club of NE Ohio Samuel H.
Ellott award for Leadership in Economic Education in 2004.
Students acquire skills that include problem-solving, negotiation,
compromise, persuasion and active listening. They account for the cost
of raw materials as well as transportation for a field trip and travel between
schools. They then determine if pricing will cover costs and a profit. The company has "payroll" that is paid in small school supplies. Students schedule
and staff production lines, and they plan advertising and marketing
presentations. Every student has a job title with specific responsibilities. The profits go to buy supplies for the next
year's program and to buy something (such as a tree or flag) for the two
schools as "rent," a cost of doing business.
School
subjects that are naturally integrated into this activity include
language arts, math, science and the arts. And students acquire a body
of knowledge required in social studies curriculum.