Elsie Roy was doing brisk business this May as students jammed into one of the school's Grade 4-5 classrooms to partake on the Young Entrepreneurs Sale. 30 vendors packed the little classroom selling everything from Mini-Pillows to Rock Hard Friends to Clay Charms.

All the stalls were hawking home-crafted products. Each booth also had their own business plan and cash float where students did a brisk business adding, subtracting and giving the proper change.

Elsie Roy teacher Melissa McCleary says the sale is the culmination of over 6 weeks of financial literacy learning. Students learned in class about business ideas and goals, market research and business operations, money plans, marketing, how to prepare a business plan and steps to take to evaluate success. In the lead up to the event, staff from Coast Capital Savings Credit Union dropped by to see the program in action. Coast Capital is a significant financial supporter of the program and purchased the business planning kits and students' workbooks.

"Overall, some incredible learning took place with this program," says McCleary. "It was a meaningful personalized project. The kids also learned life skills around financial literacy!"

Students got to write up product descriptions with catchy lines like: "Owl Pals: Owls don't sleep, but you do! Sleep with them or simply use them as decoration," as well as "Hamany's Prehistoric Slime: Need something to play with in the dark? It's your lucky day! Come to Hamany's booth and purchase some slime now!"

"The students amazed me with their creativity and what they could accomplish in such a short time," said McCleary.

McCleary says 10 percent of the proceeds of the sale will go to the children's choice of charity including BC Children's Hospital, the SPCA and the Vancouver Orphan Kitty Rescue Society among other worthy causes. 

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