NEW MINAS, NS - Grade 8 students at Evangeline Middle School (EMS) peddled their products for profit at 24th annual Entrepreneurship Showcase on June 21.
The young entrepreneurs spent two weeks getting out of class and getting down to business as they took part in an interdisciplinary unit (IDU) on entrepreneurship, which combined different aspects of math, science, English and more.
The annual event gives students the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, while getting to exercise their creativity and problem solving skills in coming up with business ideas and overcoming obstacles in a realistic setting.
The students work towards creating their businesses included conducting market research; creating business plans, financial statements, and product packaging; and even filling out applications for their business names to the registry of joint stocks.
Like real businesses, the students were also given the option of donating a percentage of their profits to charities – which most of them did.
The students were also given awards at the end of the showcase for things like social responsibility, uniqueness, innovation and more.
Business partners Jenna Guy and Caile McComiskey-McFadden were the creators of Sweet Grills, a business that creates cupcakes that look like burgers. The teens said that while they agree their favourite part of the experience was getting to taste test their products, they really enjoyed the creative aspect as well.
“It was great getting to decide and do things ourselves,” said Guy. “And getting to decide what product we wanted to make, and then deciding how to promote it was really fun.”
The cupcake tycoons decided to create a rap video for their company’s cupcake commercial.
English teacher Joann Greenough has taken part in this IDU and similar IDUs at other schools for several years and is always happy with the results they produce.
“It’s great to see what the students can do when given the opportunity,” said Greenough. “They’ve all had to work hard and they’re so proud of what they’ve accomplished.”
