As a county science assistant and Tuckahoe Elementary's Outdoor
Learning Coordinator, Beth Reese well understood teachers' need to
have outdoor activities link directly to the state's learning standards.
"We wondered how we might address the standards in different disciplines,
engage fifth graders in a special project before graduating, and
make use of the school's extensive gardens," says Beth. (Their outdoor
learning center has rooms "rooms," including a courtyard garden, observation
gallery, ancient Greek plaza, and a friendship garden.) When the idea
of initiating a plant-based business emerged, it made good sense. Although
the fifth grade science standards were light on plants, the social studies
ones were heavy on economics. And math standards were a natural business
fit.
"We decided to launch the school garden business concept in two phases,"
says Beth. In the fall, each class ran a small-scale craft business.
In the spring, once students had dabbled in sales, they created and
took charge of their own enterprise.
Laying the Groundwork
"We
wanted the fall phase of the project to be low key and low stress so
we could motivate the kids and introduce them to general business concepts,"
says Beth. Rather than have students take the lead at that point, the
teachers served
as guides. First, they introduced a craft project: creating
small wooden racks with grapevines on top from which to hang dried lavender,
rosemary, yarrow, and other herbs.
The entire class took part in production, marketing, and sales. "We
discussed the resources that went into a business — natural, capital,
and human — and got kids thinking about customers, their motivations,
and advertising," explains Beth. After making 40 herb racks (see photo),
students submitted advertisements to the school newsletter. They also
made flyers and posted them on the bulletin board so they could select
three to send to parents. "In the process of creating flyers, the kids
learned that you have to carefully choose your words, and not overwhelm
the reader," says Beth. "When we finally sold our crafts, you wouldn't
believe how many of the boys were into choosing and carefully wrapping
the herbs. It seemed like a great artistic release for those guys." This
first taste of the business world set the stage for putting students
in the driver's seat.
Business 101: Untangling a Minty
Model
Beth
and her colleagues launched the fall project by challenging students
to develop their own flow charts to answer the question, How do you
bring an idea to market? (This would also help teachers assess what
students already knew about businesses.) Their starting point? Altoid
mints! With a package of mints on display, teachers tossed out
questions
to help students work backward from the end product. For instance, after
passing around an Altoid for students to taste, Beth might ask, Would
you buy it? How about a younger kid? Based on the packaging and flavor,
what age do you think this product is targeted at? How might you change
the packaging to appeal to a 4 year old? How would you motivate someone
to part with hard-earned money and buy it? How do you think the business
owners decided on the price? "We discussed the fact that a company
needs to think of the audience and the potential demand for a product
and that we shouldn't just choose for our business what we might want
or find cute," says Beth. "The session also got us talking about whether
there should be more to our business than just earning money, such as
job satisfaction."
Once the students had pondered the secrets of the Altoids empire, the
teachers challenged them to create a business that might be equally
successful. (They hoped to raise $200 to buy a fiberglass column for
their outdoor Greek Pavilion.) Again the starting point was, How
does a product develop from an idea? "We presented the idea of doing
a plant sale business, since students had the horticultural skills to
set that up," says Beth. Beyond that, the students took charge of what
they dubbed The Tuckahoe Plant Company.
Role Call
The young entrepreneurs first considered what needed to happen to bring
their idea to fruition and who would tackle what tasks. Backing out
from their target plant
sale day (April 27th), the class created a "to-do"
list. Then they organized the list into four departments — production,
design, publicity, and sales — and came up with ultimate goals
for each: the production department must ensure a high quality product,
sales is responsible for expenses and calculations, and so on. The
class next detailed skills and qualities that would be required for
each area. "We tried to make sure that each department's list emphasized
positive and fun qualities, and the students had some great ideas,"
says Beth. What does the publicity department need? "Someone who's well
connected!" offered one youngster.
Once department descriptions and needs were established, each student
considered his or her skills and interests before choosing a position.
Beth prompted them with questions such as, Do you like to nurture
plants? Can you stick to a schedule? Have you ever convinced your parents
to raise your allowance? How? A subsequent homework assignment —
filling out a job application — pushed their thinking even further.
The applicants had to pick a first and second choice of departments,
provide a reference, and write about the skills and experiences that
make them good candidates. "The kids took this process very seriously,"
says Beth. "It was amazing how evenly they were spread out and how honest
they were about what they were good at." Snippets from their writing
reveal some thoughtful arguments: I had a successful lemonade stand.
My art is hanging in the hall. I gardened with my grandma in the summer.
I did persuade my parents to raise my allowance.
Student-run Departments Dig In
"Before the department committees got rolling, we figured out some
things as a class: What is our competition (an annual school
flower sale)? What types of plants would you need even if you already
have one? What if people don't have a garden?," explains Beth. The
youngsters settled on tomato and herb seedlings and houseplants as their
primary products. Everyone had a chance to plant seeds, take cuttings,
and place pots on light racks in the hall before turning over plant
care to the production department.
The
teachers appointed themselves as upper management, but each student-run
department was in charge of setting goals, holding committee meetings,
creating timelines, reporting to the larger group, and fulfilling its
role in the budding business. The production department's task list
included watering plants, applying organic fish emulsion fertilizer,
and generally ensuring a quality crop. The design group decided to add
value to their product by finding recipes and designing recipe cards
to include with herb and tomato pots. They also researched the types
of plant packages people liked or already had at home. The publicity
crew created flyers for parents, then gave each member responsibility
for creating and posting ads in one of the school hallways. "Last year,
the sales department had less to do in the beginning of the project,
so this year they'll have to take charge of taking out a loan and calculating
interest payments," says Beth.
"As things got rolling the first year, I was constantly in demand to
attend committee meetings. This year, I've gotten parent volunteers
to be committee consultants, which has eased my load and lead to more
productive discussions than the students might have alone." She explains
that the committee reports helped the class assess the overall progress
of the company and helped teachers monitor needs, potential problems,
and student growth. The presentations also helped groups think about
coordinating with one another. For instance, when the design group got
inspired to purchase colorful posterboard for an ad, they realized they'd
need to talk to the sales department to see if they could make the purchase.
In those cases, Beth bought supplies and reported expenses to the sales
people who would keep track of them in a ledger.
Inspired by their emerging business understanding, a group of ambitious
girls actually spun off a subsidiary. On their own time, they painted
pots; created plant decorations, such as butterflies on sticks; calculated
their expenses; and later reveled in their $300 profit.
Making the Sale
"When's the sale?" was a common refrain as school staff passed the
students' hallway production facilities. Since they'd planted things
just a bit too early, in an effort to raise robust products, students
were geared up to move their stock. "When the class decided to have
an earlybird sale,
charging $2 to $3 per plant, you would have thought
it was Macy's," notes Beth.
"We planned our actual sale day to coincide with another all-school
event — the Home and Garden Fair — so we'd have an even larger
pool of potential customers. Student-designed sandwich boards and a
bright display helped reel them in. By day's end, The Tuckahoe Plant
Company had added $1,000 to its coffers: five times the original goal!
Beth kept the money in the school safe so students could have a chance
to see and count their earnings. But counting the dollars was not the
end of the deal. Together they assessed their business by revisiting
the company's goals, considering whether they'd reached them, and brainstorming
what they might change next year. One of the things her crew learned
from customer feedback was that although they chose early ripening tomatoes,
which they assumed would encourage sales, people were more interested
in the larger classic tomato varieties.
How They Grew
"The long-term learning that comes with doing something real, solving
problems through trial and error, and reflecting on outcomes is so important,"
says Beth. "In the beginning, students also learn certain vocabulary
terms, but I'm most interested in how their understanding grows through
experience. So at the end of the year, I have them take a red pen to
their original definitions, such as market research, and tell
me how something within our business represents the word or concept."
Beth's Advice
Here are some additional tips for other teachers considering school
garden businesses:
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© 2009
National Gardening Association