Fifth-graders from Kristen Rhoades and Audrey Boris’s classes at Oxford Elementary along with Clear Lake fifth-graders from Jackie Wiscombe’s class enjoyed a ‘Carnival Day? on Dec. 1, which was put on by Oxford High School DECA students.
According to senior Emily Zeliasko there were three separate DECA groups who taught the students either about financial literacy or entrepreneurship.
? We all did different projects, but rather than doing three different activities (with the kids at the end) and spending a bunch of money on all of them we decided to combine our time into one carnival so we could have the most fun for the kids,? Zeliasko said. ‘That way we could have the biggest prizes.?
The carnival included face-painting, bounce houses, inflatable twister, mini-golf, donuts on a string eating contest and Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune style games.
‘It’s fun doing things for the community,? Zeliasko added. ‘And for the kids, watching them have fun doing all the things we set up.?
In order for the students to get tickets to participate in the events, they had to answer questions either about financial literacy or entrepreneurship. For example, Zeliasko and her partners, seniors Claire Hurford and Reilly Squarcia, taught Rhoades? class about Financial Literacy.
The girls taught them five different lessons on the topic of finances such as budgeting, taxes, and financial skills like how to write a check, count money and make change.
?(The fifth graders) really liked it because that in class before,? Zeliasko explained. ‘We had different games and activities for them to do with each lesson so they had something to look forward to.?
Their last lesson was a monopoly style game.
‘It was a classroom economy where they were paid a certain amount of money and they had to pay rent and certain situations where they either had to pay money for a broken down car and stuff like that, so that taught them real-world situations,? Hurford said. ‘The money they earned at that allowed them to have a certain amount of tickets for this (Carnival). They could either buy candy or spend it on what was the most important thing to them. We had power-point lessons and worksheets to help them learn, so it was good for them.?
Squarcia said the carnival was a good way for the students to ‘reflect on what they learned and still have fun.?
‘I haven’t really done anything like this before, but all the kids are really nice and not too crazy,? she said. ‘It’s been a good experience for leadership and what not.?
Seniors Bailey Krukowski and Maddie Ingalls taught Boris’s class about entrepreneurship.
‘Our group was an entrepreneurship promotion project,? Krukowski said. ‘We taught them all the things about entrepreneurship, trying to get them interested, so maybe they’ll be led to be entrepreneurs (in the future).?
Krukowski noted that they started with a pre-test to see what kids knew about the subject.
‘I did something like this last year and I really like working with the little kids and teaching them,? she added. ‘It’s interesting hearing like what they know already.?
Ingalls agreed.
‘I thought it was really cool. I’d never really worked with kids before, so it was cool to go into the classroom and see how they work,? she said. ‘It was fun to teach them too.?
One of the games Krukowski said the students enjoyed was called ‘The hot dog stand,? where the kids had to run their own hot dog stand and track their revenues versus expenses and learn what was considered a good expense versus good revenue.
‘The kids enjoyed that a lot,? she said. ‘They asked if we could leave the game boards there so they could play it on their own.?
The end project was a project like the television show ‘Shark Tank,? where students got into groups of four or five and came up with their own inventions.
‘They wrote up a business plan and advertisement plan and had to present it to us (in the same way) we present our DECA projects to judges,? Krukowski explained. ‘We would score them and gave them all certificates for prizes for finishing.?
Krukowski is planning on studying neuroscience in college and Ingalls wants to study graphic design. As a first year DECA student, Ingalls said the class has helped her because she wants to own her graphic design company.
Seniors Karina Parker and Matt Olson also taught the subject of entrepreneurship to Wiscombe’s class.
‘We did Jeopardy-type games,? Parker said. ‘In the end we did a big project where (the kids) created their own invention and business model, so they could present it to their friends and (us).?
Parker said she really enjoyed her time in the classroom with the younger students.
‘I felt great,? she said. ‘It was fun teaching them and I learned a lot too by doing this.?
Olson agreed, because he felt it helped the student ‘create a path to their career.?
‘Some kids don’t know what they want to be (when they grow up,) he said. ‘I feel like it’s good to teach them about entrepreneurship and (the idea of) opening a brand new (company) that they might actually feel interested in doing.?
Also helping out at the carnival were high school students both from Leadership Class and National Honors Society (NHS).