A gym full of budding entrepreneurs was the scene at Vernon's BX Elementary School during the school's second annual Young Entrepreneur Fair Friday, Dec. 13.
Roughly 120 young students were in the school gym selling products they'd come up with, tested, created and marketed themselves. The students set up shop in front of posters they made to advertise their creations.
Grade 5-7 teacher Owen Stemler organized this year's Young Entrepreneur Fair after Mrs. Van Dun started it last year.
"It teaches them valuable skills, and what we're doing here is a big part of the applied design skills and tech curriculum," Stemler told The Morning Star amid a flurry of business dealings at the school.
The students spent six weeks coming up with their projects for the fair. The end result was a wide range of products, including games, jewelry, necklaces, dog treats, fudge, coasters, posters and even some pool noodle light sabres.
"Anything you could possibly imagine, they're selling," said Stemler.
Most of the products were on sale for under $10, and 10 per cent of the proceeds will go to a charity that will be chosen by a school vote in the new year. The rest of the profits will likely go towards a year-end field trip for the students, "something that they deserve because of all their hard work," said Stemler.
Grade 6 student Violet was selling Beaded Buddies, a series of key chains, Christmas ornaments, pens and other trinkets she handcrafted with beads.
Business was going strong for Violet on Friday.
"I've already made my manufacturing cost," she said late Friday morning with hours of business still ahead.
"It's a really good program, I think all schools should do this," she added.
Grade 7 student Ty, who was selling Vernon Vipers posters, agreed that the fair was "a good opportunity for young people."
Jaxson, in Grade 6, was selling Wacky Wax candles with different scents, making use of eye-catching containers he found on Amazon.
Grade 6 student Dawson crafted coasters out of wood, cutting tree branches and spraying the circular wooden pieces with lacquer before painting and wood-burning them. He said the fair is not a competition to see who can earn the most money — "it's kind of just having fun and raising money for charity."
Stemler has enjoyed seeing the kids' creativity unfold over the course of the project, and added it's emboldened some of the more bashful students.
"Some kids that are quiet and shy in class, you see them coming out of their shell and getting out there and communicating with people and getting them to come to their booth," he said.
Stemler is grateful for his colleagues who helped make the second Young Entrepreneur Fair a success.
"I want to say thanks to the awesome staff at BX Elementary, I think we work so well as a team at this school and without all of them involved (the fair) wouldn't be possible. I couldn't be at a better school," he said.
Another fair may happen next year, depending on who is available to lead it.
