Learning For Profit Riverside School District Program Gives Students A Taste Of Capitalism

There may be a trade war brewing at Riverside Middle School.

A group of sixth graders who operate a snack stand have unlimited access to seventh- and eighth-grade buyers. But seventh- and eighth-grade merchants don’t have access to sixth-grade markets.

“We want their business!” exclaimed Danielle Ferguson, a sixth grader at the school.

Countries go to war over stuff like this.

Throughout Riverside School District, students are getting a dose of the REAL deal. The Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning program is designed to give students a taste of what it means to run their own business.

Riverside is the first school district west of the Mississippi River to implement the entrepreneurship program within its core curriculum.

Amanda Barbano is a senior at Riverside High School who is enrolled in the program. She called REAL a “low-lecture, no-book, hands-on way to learn.”

Cory NeVille coordinates the REAL program at the high school. He’s been developing the program in the district since its inception in 1991.

“You want to give them a sense of independence and a much better sense of what the real world is about,” NeVille said.

“Whether they implement it or not isn’t the issue, whether or not they develop and learn entrepreneurial skills is,” he said.

NeVille is a firm believer in the program.

“For some of these kids, it’s the first thing in their educational experience that they feel is of value,” he said. “It allows them to step up to the adult level and be responsible. For the first time, some have bought into what we’re trying to do here.”

The program has been in Riverside High since 1991 and has filtered its way down to the middle school and Riverside and Chattaroy Elementary schools in recent years.

Vermont, North Carolina, Georgia and Washington are the only states who have school districts using REAL.

Other states in the west have recently contacted Riverside officials asking their advice on how to develop the REAL curriculum.

Last month, the 12-member Washington Joint Select Committee on Education Restructuring toured the Riverside district for a peek at the program.

The committee also asked Riverside officials if they would be willing to help other districts throughout Washington state incorporate REAL into their schools.

In the Riverside district, roughly 14 teachers are instructing 350 kids in the popular program, NeVille said.

Linda Campbell teaches seventh and eight graders at the middle school. She believes REAL provides students with the basic knowledge that it takes to start a business.

Mark Holcomb, Julie Aaronson, Erik Sherman and Beth Brown are four of Campbell’s students who decided they would sell root-beer floats.

It proved to be the best business based on a survey of their classmates. Kids were asked how their grade level, their gender and how much they were willing to spend on food.

“Our number one survey item was pizza with 54 votes,” said Aaronson. “But we didn’t choose it because we might have wasted, leftover pizza.”

Pizza took too long to cook and storing it would have been a problem. They chose ice cream because it was easy to store and prepare, Aaronson said.

The four then contacted six local grocery stores and priced cups, spoons, ice cream, soda and donuts. They applied for a loan from the school office for start-up costs.

After purchasing the most affordable products, they went to work.

“We make a pretty good profit,” said Aaronson, who wouldn’t discuss profit margin for fear of competitors trying to undercut the business.

“This class makes you want to get up early and make money,” said sixth-grader Dulcy Powers. “It gives you a good idea of what you have to do to make a business work. I always thought it would actually be a lot more simple than it is.”

Profits are turned in to the school’s office at the end of the day. Student earnings go to the future development of the “mini-REAL” program for the middle-school students, Campbell said.

Students at the high school have just started developing business plans.

Seniors Michelle Foisy and Brianna Church and junior Alicia Davies want to start their own hog business.

“This would be a long-term business,” Davies said. The girls are hoping to apply any potential profits to their college educations if they start it and make it work.

Barbano, who wants to own her own restaurant, said she never considered going into business for herself until she got enrolled in REAL.

“It’s almost like an extra-curriculum thing,” Barbano said. “It’s been a great experience.”

In her first class, NeVille put Barbano with a group of people that all had very different personalities and interests from each other.

“I think he stuck me there on purpose,” Barbano said. “None of us got along and we struggled to get some of our assigned group activities completed.

“We finally got frustrated with not being able to get anything and just decided to roll up our sleeves and do the work. I kind of feel like I can work with anybody now.”

Despite its merits, NeVille said REAL should not be a replacement to the district’s core curriculum.

“I don’t ever want this to detract from their education,” NeVille said. “They’re here to get their diplomas first before doing anything else. None of this is of value if you don’t get your diploma.”

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