Letter: Millage will help maintain state’s 12th largest school system
April 23, 2013
East-side Houma group taking hope to the ‘Extreme’
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Running a self-owned company is not something many people do in their lifetime, but when all the money made goes to a good cause, nothing gets in the way of a bunch of business-savvy third grader tycoons.
“After the St. Matthew’s Church burned down, the kids wanted to do something to help raise money for the church and the community,” said Jennifer Breaux, a third-grade teacher at St. Matthew’s Episcopal School. “Synergy Bank is a member of Partners in Education, and the business they helped the students start generates about $1,000 each year. This year’s money will go to Relay for Life and the Animal Adoption Center.”
So what kind of business are 21 third-grade students running?
A Cheap Chip business.
Each month, Synergy Bank visits the school to teach students about money and checking and savings accounts, and in 2010, the lending institution loaned the school’s third-grade class $50 to purchase a load of potato chips, chips that the young entrepreneurs then sold to fellow students during recess. In the years since, the 50-cents-a-bag business has been booming, and the endeavor has even become self-sustaining. Every year, each class elects a board and public relations spokesperson to help oversee the school-day to school-day running of things, and, not only does the program raise money, but it also helps to educate the children.
“This is teaching them to be responsible and money wise, and it shows them how to work together and set goals for themselves,” said Breaux, who oversees the business. “They also learn about money, coins and making change. We buy the chips ourselves with some of the money we raise, and they figure out the budget, profit and intake. This year we got lucky, and a parent donated the chips.”
As the students’ know-how of business management expands, they have also learned to streamline their operation by creating a list of rules for those purchasing chips. The list hangs from the chip stand, which was donated by Synergy Bank, and the stand is manned by two students from the two third-grade classes. Rules like “No cutting” and “Pay cashier” are brightly displayed on the stand’s placard.
This year, the third graders also polled students on their favorite chips, and the class then voted on what kind of chips should be sold at the stand.
“They have several Lays, Miss Vickies and Zapps varieties,” Breaux said. “The Zapps and the Miss Vickies go fast.”
“I like seeing them work together,” she continued. “They are so excited about the business, and that is sometimes hard to come by in education. The second graders are already looking forward to running the business. It’s quickly becoming a rite of passage here.”
In addition to voting on chip flavors, each class also votes on what causes their profits will benefit, and previous years’ incomes have gone to rebuilding the church and purchasing new physical education equipment. This year’s causes are especially important to one of the third-grade students.
“My grandma died of cancer,” said 9-year-old Kameron Harris. “It makes me feel good to know that we are making money and helping people who are still alive who have cancer.”
The third grader’s optimistic outlook is also shared by Cheap Chips presidents Mia Martin and Lake Lewis.
“We had a meeting earlier this school year, and we voted to split this year’s money between the Animal Adoption Center and Relay for Life,” said 9-year-old Martin. “I like knowing that we are raising money for things people need, like the church, and the best part of working is getting to work with my friends. We learn a lot about how to run a business.”
“I really like making money to help the Animal Adoption Center and Relay for Life,” said 9-year-old Lewis. “We are learning how to count money, make change and run a business. We make sure we run everything right, sell the chips and have our meetings.”
In a few weeks, the students will get to visit the place that helped to start their business, and Synergy Bank marketing associate Katie Portier, one of the Synergy Bank employees who visits the school to educate pupils on finances, will be on hand for the tour.
“It’s so good to see Cheap Chips grow,” she said. “Every time I go to the school, they are all so excited to tell me how business is going. Cheap Chips allows the students to be business leaders and to get hands-on experience counting money, running a business and doing marketing. Hands-on, that’s how you really learn something.”
St. Matthews is one of three schools the bank visits, and, through the Bank at School program, Portier hopes that the students will use what they learned in grade school to make responsible financial choices in the future.
“Synergy is a big advocate of financial literacy,” she said. “We teach them about money, finances and the rewards of saving money and try to help build a financial foundation that stays with them. Knowing these things will be helpful when they open that first checking account, and getting to give back to the community is so rewarding for us.”
Third grade students from at St. Matthew’s Episcopal School stand behind their Cheap Chips stand. The students sell chips for 50 cents a bag during recess, and they donate their earnings to causes in the community.
