Canfield 3rd-graders get taste of running their own business

By Justin Wier

jwier@vindy.com

CANFIELD

On Thursday afternoon, Kristin Hartshorn’s third-grade classroom at C.H. Campbell Elementary School was transformed into an assembly line as the students participated in a mock business exercise selling hot chocolate mix.

Mixing bowls passed from station to station as students added powdered milk, sugar, cocoa and nondairy creamer. At subsequent stations, students whisked together the ingredients, poured them into Ziploc bags, added labels and packaged individual orders for students to take home.

Hartshorn said they try to have lots of hands-on and project-based learning at the third-grade level.

“We want them to have the experience of running their own business, so that someday they might start their own,” Hartshorn said.

The exercise taught kids economic concepts, such as the difference between capital (whisks and mixing bowls), labor (the students) and natural resources (milk, cocoa and sugar) as well as the difference between profit-sharing and paying salaries. Ohio state standards require teaching economics in third-grade. The exercise also allows students to apply knowledge of measuring and encourages teamwork.

Ken English, whose son Gavin is in Hartshorn’s class, was there as a supervisor. He said he has a business degree and is all for teaching elementary school students entrepreneurial skills and business acumen. He said the teacher deserves a lot of credit for bringing it all together.

“To put an assembly line together with 8-year-olds ... it’s amazing,” he said.

The students had their parents order hot chocolate mix at $1.50 per package using pretend money. Hartshorn said they would calculate profits by subtracting material costs from their revenue on Friday. If the profits were lacking, they would brainstorm ways to increase their profit margins.

Representatives from Auntie Anne’s pretzels visited the class earlier to share their knowledge of running businesses.

Sofia Castronova, a student in Hartshorn’s class, said she wasn’t sure how they were going to be able to make and package the mix, but having individual stations made things go faster.

“You need to be fast because if it goes too slow the whole thing will be backed up,” she said.

She said the exercise could help her because she might want to start a business baking cakes in the future.