'It made my heart feel really good'
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A third-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary School had a lesson last week that just kept giving.
Amy Mayo, Roosevelt third-grade teacher, was gearing up for a lesson on economics.
As part of the students' social studies unit, they were set to learn about being producers and consumers, having wants and needs, and supply and demand.
She also wanted to intertwine the school's social and emotional curriculum into the lesson. The school's word for the month is "compassion," so Mayo lead a discussion on differences in children and accepting others.
Video courtesy of USD 489
Mayo had her 21 students make craft items. This included magnets, gift bags, cards, Christmas countdowns, reindeer doughnuts and snowmen.
The children sold the items in a store to family, friends and teachers. They used their math skills to tally the sales and make change.
"When the parents came in, they were just little businessmen walking around selling things," Mayo said.
She said she was impressed by the support the children received for their project. The store was only open a total of two hours, and they raised more than $200.
The children calculated their startup fees and subtracted that from their proceeds.
They took the majority of the remaining money they made — $210 — and used it to buy Christmas presents for Toys for Tots at Walmart to benefit needy children.
The children were divided into three groups and paired with adults. They had to budget their money and even learned about the necessity of leaving enough money to pay for sales tax.
Mayo took the children to Thirsty's after their shopping field trip for fries and beverages. Thirsty's owner, Brent, offered to donate the fries and drinks, but Mayo wanted the children to pay something for their treats. He settled on a charge of a $1 for each child.
"I wanted this to be a lesson where children purchase an item and have to work for something and pay for it," Mayo said.
Brent was so taken by the children's efforts that he donated all the proceeds from their purchases to Bikes for Tikes.
"This was just the gift that kept on giving," Mayo said. "It was such an amazing lesson. The children were so well-behaved at Thirsty's. I could not have been more proud of them.
"Through this whole thing, they were diligent and they were well-behaved and so thrilled with the lesson."
Brent was not the only one impressed with the children's generosity and work. A group of people was watching a World Cup game at a table near the children.
Mayo was going to pay the waitress' tip, but she was told the other guests had already tipped her.
The fundraiser was so successful the children will each be receiving $1 to take home and spend as they wish for their efforts.
"I can't tell you how many times throughout this field trip the kids were 'This is the best field trip ever. When do we get to do something else like this?' 'We really hope the kids love these gifts,' and 'This was so much fun,' " Mayo said.
"I feel they learned so much, because it was so hands on, and it tied so cross curricular. It covered everything that we were working on from math to social studies to social/emotional. It was really a fun lesson."
The children agreed, but what stuck out was how much the students valued helping other children.
Jeremaih Bartley said, "It made my heart feel really good. I like giving stuff."
Addelyn VanderGiesen said, "It made me feel happy about myself."
Camden Staab said, "I was happy to help someone's life."
And Vincent VanEyk said "I like helping other people."
The lesson was such a success Mayo plans to replicate the lesson next year and has invited the other third-grade classes at Roosevelt to join in.
"I've taught for 24 years, and this was absolutely, by far, the most rewarding lesson I've ever taught," she said.