For the second year in a row, third grade students at Willow Avenue Elementary School sold homemade goods at their marketplace to raise money for Ryan’s Well Foundation. Ryan’s Well is “an organization dedicated to relieving the water crisis in the poorest regions of the world’s developing countries.”
The students prepared for the marketplace in their Social Studies and English Language Arts classes. The youngsters learned about the economy, citizenship, the Earth’s water, and the challenges some people face to obtain water that is clean.
Students learned about business including supply and demand and marketing. They conducted surveys to determine if there would be a market for the product they wanted to sell. Using a program called Publisher, they created business cards and flyers. The students made signs by hand using gimmick words and slogans to attract buyers. They even learned about special offers, like two for one deals, to create competition.
The third graders formed groups to study water, ways to conserve water, and the difficulty of finding water (dirty or clean) in underdeveloped countries. Then they created a public service announcement, which parents watched on the day of the market. The kids pretended to be newscasters, reporting on location, as they produced a video in front of a green screen.
Last Wednesday, students were able to Skype with the founder of Ryan’s Well Foundation, Ryan Hreljac. They asked how much money his foundation has raised ($6 million), how many people he’s helped (a few million people now have access to clean water because of the foundation), and how many countries he’s assisted (16). Students wanted to know why he chose to help Uganda as opposed to other countries. He said the foundation tries to start with the countries that need the most help.
The kids even asked whether he had ever seen mutations, caused by pollutants in the water. He said that he had.
On June 17, the students set up their desks in the classroom, or the third-grade wing, and sold items such as pet rocks, book marks, sock puppets, chocolate covered pretzels, popcorn, cookies, brownies, and sushi candy.
Last year the students raised $1,300. They remained consistent this year collecting $1,318 for the foundation.
