On Thursday, May 2, Xenia's fourth grade students in the gifted program hosted the annual Young Entrepreneurs Project Showcase at Benner Field House.
This year, 37 students participated in the program, brainstorming concepts and building teams to create a total of 11 companies -- the majority of which ultimately earned a profit at their showcase!
Crafty Crew, created by the entrepreneurial team of Alexandria Frost, Ray Peters, Bailey Barnes, and Greyson Gonzalez, came in first at the event, with a profit of $947. All companies earning a profit will receive $10 gift cards to various local establishments.
As a whole, this year's Young Entrepreneurs showcase raised $3,477, of which $347.70 will be donated to Good-to-Go Backpacks, a program of the Dayton Foodbank that benefits Greene County students. The fourth graders also donated items from their inventory for a silent auction held by The Xenia Community Schools Foundation held last week.
The remaining funds will be used by next year's fourth graders to purchase raw materials for the products they plan to manufacture for the 2024-2025 Project Showcase.
The students were excited to learn so much throughout the months-long project:
- "I learned to be prepared, I learned not to be a perfectionist because it just makes things worse, and I learned that one way or another things will turn out." ~ Alexandria Frost
- "Teamwork makes the dream work." ~ Andrew Gilbert
- "To be kind and stay positive throughout the experience. And, I learned how to cut wood!" ~ Olivia Varvel
A big THANK YOU to the parents, volunteers and teachers who mentor the students through this process!
Parents: Mrs. Sandoval, Mrs. Barker, Mrs. Thompson, and Mrs. Frost. Volunteers, many of whom worked directly with students, such as: Mr. Collins, Mr. Shaw, Patricia Shinkle, Ben Sumner, and Noah from Lowe's (Xenia). Our teacher mentors are: Danielle Mackiewicz, Leah Pham, Donna Shaw, and Sandi Jacobs
About the XTAR Young Entrepreneur Program
Each year, students in XTAR, the District’s gifted learning program, complete an entrepreneur chapter that culminates in a showcase aimed at family, friends, and the school community. For the program, students complete a small business simulation, where they develop a business plan, acquire a "bank" loan, develop a website to showcase their business and product, and manufacture goods to be sold during the showcase.
The program meets Ohio curriculum standards in the areas of financial literacy, technology, and social studies, while also reinforcing critical 21st century skills. Through this project, students learn to work as a team, solve problems, make compromises, work through adversity, make hard decisions about allocating resources, and divide the workload among team members.
Each year, the first ten percent of money raised is donated to a charity voted on by the students, and the remaining funds are used to pay it forward to the next group of fourth graders to support their future Showcase.