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Elementary economics

Animas Valley students learn marketplace dynamics by growing, selling carrots, kale and chard

Do kids understand the value of a dollar? The students at Animas Valley Elementary sure do.

The fifth-grade students at Animas Valley Elementary seem to know all about the concept of supply and demand by growing and selling produce as part of their economics curriculum.

Each grade, including kindergarten, are tasked with planting produce or plants. Then, the fifth-graders operate their farmers market and leave behind notes on how well or poorly they did to help their successors.

For instance, the students had a high supply of chard and kale, so it sold at a cheaper price, fifth-grader Anthony Flint said. They also had a low supply of pumpkins and carrots.

“Our best sellers are carrots,” Anthony said.

Because the students had fewer carrots, they were able to sell them for more money.

Chard sold for $1.50 a bag while carrots sold between $2.50 to $3 a bag. The produce was also organic, which made it more expensive, fifth-grader Calan Barnhardt said.

Money raised at the students’ farmers market – the last market of the season was recently held – goes to fund school supplies and other needed items.

Learning how to properly market their items was also an important lesson, said fifth-grader Sydney Flores.

Students made an effort to let parents in the community know about their farmer’s market to bring in customers. They also offered free samples, a tactic frequently used in grocery stores.

Sydney thought of an engaging way to sell the large zucchinis the students had grown with the marketing slogan “adopt a zucchini.”

However, marketing wasn’t always an easy task, especially in trying to sell an item like kale and chard that grows in abundance.

“We had to make people want to buy our kale and chard,” said fifth-grader Samme Newcomer.

To avoid wasting excess produce students thought of the idea of mixing plentiful items with more scarce items in stew bags.

Carrots, potatoes, rosemary and other veggies were placed in one bag and sold during farmers markets, Samme said.

In the students’ recommendations for next year, they plan to advise their successors to plant more potatoes and carrots. This year, the broccoli and carrots didn’t grow so well because of the weather, a factor in their market that they were unable to control.

Students were also tasked to compare the price of their produce to their competitors in town.

“Our produce is priced higher than City Market’s because we picked it four hours ago,” Anthony said.

Freshness is a big advantage for the students: They picked their produce just hours before selling it.

And though fun, the exercise serves a purpose.

The project, along with their more traditional classroom lessons, educate the youths about the economic and political systems, said fifth-grade teacher Stephanie Herbst.

Students become proficient in economic concepts and vocabulary such as commodities, surplus and free-market through real-life examples. This year, students learned about commodities by studying the market for their carrots, Herbst said.

Learning through simulations helps the students understand advanced concepts they will continue to use throughout their life.

Durango School District 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp said the school district goes by the academic standards of the Colorado Department of Education. The state standards outline how to teach core subjects by grade level.

“Economics begin very early on,” she said. “There are different standards throughout the K-12 curriculum.”

Teaching economics begins as early as kindergarten and the material gets more robust through middle school and high school, Popp said.

In addition to the students’ farmers market project, the students are taking an active role in learning about government’s influence on the economy.

Each class is part of a student congress and a senate. Students start as concerned citizens and then later take action by becoming representatives and advocates for their school, fifth-grade teacher Shelli Tucker said.

Students are able to learn about policy actions and advocate for policy changes to President Lisa Schuba, the school principal, during congressional sessions.

More advanced concepts regarding government involvement in economics and various banking and accounting concepts will be more difficult.

“We are designing the curriculum as we go,” Tucker said.

It is important that economics and financial literacy are incorporated and connected with the study of math, social studies and government, she said.

The farmers market takes place at the end of spring and the beginning of fall for about three weeks. The students have raised more than $100 this year and had a surplus of $200 from the year prior.

“It’s been a very successful way of teaching economics,” Herbst said.

vguthrie@durangoherald.com



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