This year’s South Jordan Elementary fourth graders should be excited about the end of the school year.

Not necessarily because it will be summer, but because they will become entrepreneurs. Like classes before them, the students will create their own businesses to be part of the Economics Rocky Ram Mall.

Last spring at The Fun Store, Dulce Gonzales made puppets, bookmarks, bracelets and stickers available to her classmates. 

At The Goods, Carter Pitre had high demand for his 3D creations, including dragons, sharks, chameleons and octopi, selling out of some he made in five minutes.

At Picture Perfect, Bailee Erekson, Ella Horton and Grace Merchant provided friends with props before taking their pictures and printing them with a sticker maker.

Those and other student businesses follow the state core curriculum, beginning with studying about entrepreneurship, understanding vocabulary and learning about payroll and balancing a bank book, fourth-grade teacher Karrie Wardell said.

“We help them understand it as it applies in the real world,” Wardell said. “They learn they need to come up with a business that will earn money. They learn there needs to be demand for the business and they should have the supply for it. They learn to market their business to their classmates and price it accordingly.”

Students can only spend $10 of their own personal money toward the business, or they could come up with a business using materials they already have at home, like nail polish for a beauty salon or paint to paint rocks, she said.

The students also need to create a 30-second commercial for their business as well as an ad, which is posted on a bulletin board so the all fourth-graders can see what will be at the Ram Mall.

“They learn how to be truthful about their product or business and not to promise something just to make a sale. But they can offer deals or discounts to promote interest,” she said.

Fourth-grade teacher Melissa Handy appreciates students learning those skills.

“That experience of preparing a script, practicing it to record it and being aware of making their point within a set time is valuable and can translate to a skill they can use when they introduce themselves at a job interview to selling an idea or project in the real-world,” she said.

During the event, students can spend Ram Mall money to buy items at their classmates’ businesses; they earned the pretend dollars by completing their classroom jobs in the weeks preceding the event.

At The Blond Squad business, Elsa Butler, Jocelyn Hiatt and Taylor Johnson were selling 20 bracelets and 17 packages of slime they had made.

“We liked the creativity of our products and thought they’d be easy to make after school,” Jocelyn said.

However, they noted their supply was low.

“Business has been going really well; we should have made more,” Elsa said.

Their classmate, Timmy Pacini of Paracords and Treats, also was experiencing high demand for his paracord bracelets he made after studying how on a YouTube tutorial. They were made available in the store he shared with Sammy Braso and Rose Chanhonany.

“I know it’s a kids’ mall and we don’t have bills, paychecks or have to worry about overhead, but I learned how selling works and how we should have supply, and maybe that means raising prices,” Timmy said. “I learned if someone doesn’t do their job in an economy then others can’t do theirs and the economy fails. I learned about how selling works and how to price things to make a profit.”

Fourth-grade teacher Dodi Thacker said after the Ram Mall, students not only learn about supply and demand and profit and loss first-hand, they have a good understanding of Utah’s economy through the years.

“They’re learning economics concepts and understanding more about how it applies in Utah history,” she said. 

Students learn about Native Americans bartering and trading services or goods to buy items. They learn about how Park City and Alta were once mining towns and have re-invented themselves as summer and winter resort towns for hiking and skiing, she said.

“We talk about how the economy changes and how technology, natural resource development and globalization impact that,” Thacker said. “Here, they are practicing good communication and math skills while being creative and putting their problem-solving skills to practice. They’re becoming smart consumers and more aware of products and advertising.”

Wardell appreciates the lesson students gain through the experience.

“It teaches them life skills. When I was even 8 years old, I walked my neighborhood, selling wrapping paper gift cards I made. I saved my money in a little tin can.  That experience of managing my own money prepared me for real life and I became independent with my money to buy my own things,” she said, adding that later she operated a preschool and a dance business out of her home so she could buy her own school clothes. “This experience helps introduce them to financial independence and they’re learning to appreciate how the real world runs.” λ