Bridlewood Elementary (Bridlewood) fifth-graders learned real-life skills at their recent Mini Society Night.
“We want our students to experience real-life opportunities to learn about goods and services, supply and demand, produce development, job applications and budgeting money at an early age,” teacher Patricia Jordan said.
Directly in line with Lewisville ISD’s Strategic Design the student-driven project develops decision-making and problem-solving skills to be used in and outside the classroom. A project directly in line with
Mini Society Night where students, parents, staff and community members came together to purchase items created by students. Items for sale included clipboards, jewelry, baked goods, wallets and more.
“We helped our students price their items,” Jordan said. “Some chose to price their items low and others went high, but many quickly realized they were unable to sell as many items as they’d hoped.”
At the end of the event, students turned in receipts to document their expenses, profit and losses. Bridlewood continued the experience with a Mini Society Town the following week.
During Mini Society Town, students transformed classrooms into a restaurant, salon, various municipal departments, general store, movie theater and arcade. Students divided into two shifts: half operated the stores, while the other half shopped, ate and went to the movies using the money they earned from Mini Society Night.
As a result, students felt they learned how to make wise spending decisions.
“Mini Society taught me how to make a product and sell it for a good price,” student Patrick Black said. “It taught me how to spend my money wisely.”
Teachers hope the event will inspire students to start thinking of ways to enjoy thriving, productive lives in a future they create.
