Eston’s young entrepreneurs sell their wares
By Joan Janzen
The grade 5 and 6 students at Eston Composite School (ECS) were hard at work these past few weeks preparing for Market Day at the school. Their parents, grandparents, friends and ECS students were eager to purchase their wares Wednesday afternoon, March 27th in the school gymnasium.
Part of each student’s business plan included preparing a budget, business strategy, marketing, and designing a poster to represent their product. It was obvious they were well prepared.
The Grade 5 and 6 students at Eston Composite School did an excellent job of presenting and selling their products on Wednesday afternoon, March 27th. And their fellow students were some of their best customers.
PHOTOS BY JOAN JANZEN, click for larger images
“How can I help you? Is there anything specific you’re looking for? Those were questions asked as customers visited each vendor. Another enthusiastic entrepreneur was chanting, “Stress balls for sale. Get your stress balls here!”
Some of the students utilized incentives to draw customers to their table. One entrepreneur invited his customers to enter a draw to win a prize.
Although there was an hour before closing time, some of the youngsters had already sold all their products, while others were taking orders to fill at a later date. One of the students admitted counting out change for customers was a bit stressful, but they all handled it quite well. After the transaction was finished, each customer was handed a receipt.
Ten percent of the profits made by students were donated towards The Little Free Pantry at Eston Wheatland Regional Library or the ball diamonds. And yes, it was a profitable day for every one of the young entrepreneurs. How profitable? Well they all had to count their cash to find out exactly how much they made, minus their float and their 10 percent donation.
These are the products that were available on Market Day at Eston School. There was something for everyone.
Ana’s cool cups, Jax’s really fine signs, and Gavin’s challenge chopsticks were on display. Scarlett’s lavender room spray, Capri’s colourful keychains, and candy play doh were also available. Customers could treat their pups to Caleb’s delicious dog treats, and Ahrianna’s poppin’ paints and homemade planter boxes were part of the Power Play Young Entrepreneur projects.
Soak’s Bathhouse offered soaps in six different scents, including vanilla cake, berry smoothie, mocha, lemon meringue pie and key lime pie. Edward’s Kool Komi Klub presented “The Game,” and Declan provided birdhouses for your bird city.
Also available were coloured slime, Steven’s Paper Crafts, pop rocks, and Kahlan’s creative clips and headbands. Leah had bookmarks for sale. The poster said, “Can’t find your page? Come to Leah’s stand for some pretty amazing bookmarks”. Kaylin claimed your wrists will be boring Sam’s dazzling funky rocks were a work of art, and Marisa’s funny lip glosses all came with cool stickers. There was a rustic wooden sign for every home, Riley’s fancy jewelry, Nya’s handmade cool cards and Abbey’s amazing keychains.
Griffin had wind chimes at his table, while Eva offered e-scent-I’ll sugar scrubs and both Cameryn and Lexi sold some cool handmade chains and keychains. Chet supplied pet tags at his display, both Aliyah and Preston had moon sand stress balls, and another table displayed Deandre’s dazzling stickers.
Wayne’s Just Stick It Sticker Shop had hand-cut stickers for everyone. Annmaria offered smelly candles, and Rider showed off his Atomic Comix.
Hats off to all the students who put in a lot of time and hard work, which resulted in an amazing Market Day.