From monkey business to doing business

Andrew Edwards

Afternoon at the Pegasus School was reminiscent of a medieval bazaar

along the Silk Road, a busy country fair, or even the pit at the New

York Stock Exchange. Crowds of children huddled around booths staffed

by their fellow students selling an array of goods ranging from

homemade blankets to hand-made soap to bouncing balls.

The commerce was all part of Entrepreneur Day, when fourth and

fifth-graders blended their business acumen with the gentler spirit

of charity. After paying off their operating costs, the students plan

to donate every dime of the more than $1,000 they raised to

CureDuchenne, a charity that raises money for the treatment of

Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable disease that causes muscle

degeneration in boys.

A 6-year-old boy enrolled at the school has been diagnosed with

the disease. His name has been kept private by the school at the

request of his family.

“We wanted to try to get a cure for it,” 10-year-old Tess Wohrle

said.

Students worked in teams to formulate plans and produce their

products. In the plans, children itemized their expenses so they knew

how much money they needed to earn to make a profit.

“We learned how to make business plans and we just studied

businesses,” 10-year-old Nicolas Jaber said.

The hottest items at Entrepreneur Day were blankets, about 100

sold out in less than one hour.

“We’ve been pretty successful considering we’ve been doing this

for a few months,” 11-year-old Danie Diamond said.

Another popular product was the bouncy “Rad Rubber Band Balls,” 30

of which sold out in about 15 minutes. Penolope Koulos, 10, said she

and her business partner, 10-year-old Erin Vogel, expected their toys

would have a favorable market since other Pegasus students showed

interest in the balls before the sale.

“We thought they were really into them,” Koulos said.

As students developed their businesses, they learned to split

duties and specialize. The two girls selling handmade soaps,

Katherine Nagasawa, 11, and Katie Lin, 11, divvied up their tasks.

Katherine concentrated on making the rainbow-colored creations while

Lin handled the money jobs.

The event was the inaugural Entrepreneur Day at the Pegasus

school, and Assistant Director John Sullivan said he expected the

kids would gain experience they could apply to future events.

“This is the first one. I think the kids are going to learn a lot

about supply and demand,” he said.