Hesperia 2nd Graders Learn About Entrepreneurism

Hesperia, MI – How can elementary students help a community?  Students in Jordan Bourdo, Denise Short and Angie Pummel’s second grade classrooms at Patricia St. Clair Elementary School learned just that recently when they integrated the Junior Achievement Our Community program into their curriculum.  JA Our Community introduces students to the intersection of work readiness and social studies learning objectives, including how citizens benefit from and contribute to a community's success.

Students walk away from the experience learning more about their community, careers, how businesses and government works, taxation, voting and how money flows through a community’s economy.  This year, the second grade teachers at Patricia St. Clair Elementary took the learning experience to the next level, creating a true entrepreneurial experience by having the students create and sell a product—donuts!  

After learning more about business ownership, the students worked together to design a class donut that would be sold locally.  “It was super cool,” said student Haden Burrell. “I really liked designing the donuts.”  Students worked on their design and each class then voted on the design that would represent them.  Each of the class’ donut designs were then created and sold at Ed’s Orchard Market in May.  Students were able to take a field trip to the store to learn more about the process.

“All of us at Ed's Orchard Market were so excited to participate in the Junior Achievement project with the second graders at Patricia St. Clair Elementary.  In our nearly 80 years of providing a local shopping experience to the Hesperia community, we have taken pride in participating with many school projects,” said owner Scott Rumsey.  “The donut project was unique in that it allowed the students to gain insight into creating a new product for our bakery, presenting it to their classmates for consideration, and getting to see the finished product being made right here in our bakery.  The kids were so excited to see their creations in our donut case when they toured the store.  It was clear the activity was a great deal of fun for all of them, and for all of us as well.”

“We are so proud of the students at Patricia St. Clair Elementary School for implementing what they learned this year about entrepreneurship,” said Bill Coderre, President and CEO, Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes.  “Part of our goal is to make a lasting impression on these students so they will be inspired to positively impact communities in the future with their own businesses.”

Special thanks to the Fremont Area Community Foundation and the Gerber Foundation who provided the funding necessary to run these impactful programs in the area.  
If you would like to learn more about or support Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes, please call 616-575-9080.