By WAYNE ALLEN
PDT Staff Writer
Students in Wanda Dengel’s second-grade class at Notre Dame Elementary are gaining hands-on experience with a lesson in economics.
They created the Fun Creations Company as part of the lesson and students were tasked with designing and manufacturing notepads that would be sold to their parents.
Before beginning production, the students conducted a market survey of their parents to gauge interest.
The survey included questions such as, “Might you be interested in purchasing a package of 10 decorated notepads,” and “How many might you buy” for $3, $5 or $10.
The survey determined the notepads would be sold for $3 per package of 10 note sheets, which included a pen.
The students researched the cost of needed materials, which came to $40, and then applied for a loan to the school treasurer to pay for them.
The class received a $40 loan and agreed to pay an additional dollar in interest.
The students then applied for various jobs, based on job descriptions, which included company president, plant manager, stamper, artist, quality control/encourager, mover, ribbon tier, note counter and labeler/bagger.
Based on the orders, students constructed 70 notepads.
“It’s anticipated we will meet our loan obligation and have some money left over. We are going to take a little bit of the left over money to treat the employees (students) for their hard work. The remaining money will be donated to the St. Vincent DePaul Society, who is participating in the Feinstein Challenge.”
Dengel said this is the first time she has taught such as lesson and hopes to make it a tradition.
“The children learned the importance of cooperation and collaboration during this project. If any part of the team broke down, it stopped production. They also found that by collaborating they could come up with a good name for their company, they had to rely on their community for the resources, and they needed consumers,” Dengel said. “This was a good experience for the students.”
The note pads were distributed Thursday.
Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.
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