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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Second-grade students worked the Crazy for Candy booth at the student-run carnival at Stadium Drive Elementary on April 4-7. Pictured are, from left, Carley, Lauren, Oliver and Jessen.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Students had a face-painting area set up at the Carnival of Fun at Stadium Drive Elementary on April 4-7. Pictured are, from left, Jayse, Ella, Gisella, Emma and Ashlyn.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Students worked the popcorn stand at the Carnival of Fun at Stadium Drive Elementary on April 4-7. Pictured are, from left, Lucas, Jordan, Zachary, Thomas and Ben.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Second-grade students drew caricatures for the guests who came to the Carnival of Fun at Stadium Drive Elementary on April 4-7. Pictured are, from left, (front); Ryan (back) Gianna, Angeline and Nicole.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Second-grade students ran the arcade area during the Carnival of Fun at Stadium Drive Elementary on April 4-7.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Stadium Drive Elementary students transformed a classroom into a carnival to learn more about finance and economics.
This is the second year the Carnival of Fun was created by the second-grade students, who are currently being taught a lesson in economics in their classrooms. Second-grade teachers Jessica Koehler, Brittany Krestel and Debbie Seifert organized the event, but the second-graders ran the carnival and the different booths by themselves.
“We try to make it completely student-centered. We try not to help them, we talk about this is their job and they earn an income,” said Koehler.
Students who attend the carnival are asked to bring in a canned good to donate. Everyone who attends gets four free tickets and two more tickets for every canned item brought in. The second-grade students who work the ticket table tally the number of cans each grade brings in to total them at the end of the carnival.
Last year, the students raised more than 1,500 pounds of food to donate the Second Harvest Food Bank and this year they hope to raise more. It gives the students an opportunity to learn and volunteer to raise goods for people who are in need.
“One of our words is volunteering. We taught the kids that we can volunteer by raising canned goods for the poor,” said Koehler.
“I love the carnival, my favorite part is that we are raising food for Second Harvest,” said second-grader Isabella Witt who helped run the petting zoo.
The entire student body is invited, along with parents, to come to the carnival. Each of the visiting classes gets a half hour to explore the different stands.
The students learned different vocabulary words revolving around economics and business. They use those words while they work the different stands to try and bring guests to their booths.
“I liked doing the carnival, I learned a lot about economics,” said second-grader Ava Flescher who helped with the petting zoo.