Rutland Herald
KILLINGTON
— Sixth graders found a creative, entrepreneurial way to keep their
playground balls from disappearing down the side banks and landing in
nearby creeks: start a business and raise money for a net.
Gaga
happens to be one of the favorite games on the playground at Killington
Elementary: A ball is kicked around an octagonal or hexagonal pen in an
effort to tag other players from the knee down, though balls
occasionally fly out of the ring and into the woods.
So
the sixth-graders, in their final year at the school, decided to create
a school store, stocked with original crafts from their class
makerspace as a way to leave their mark on a school they said feels like
a second home.
Together
with sixth-grade teacher Amy Simonds and their laser-cutter Cricut
machines, the students set to work in their new makerspace, an idea they
credited to librarian Eileen Vaughan, designing and printing decals and
illustrations for products they planned to sell at their makers’
market.
“Sixth-graders went
around and surveyed each classroom, K-6, to determine what kinds of
materials they wanted and needed,” Simonds said.
“There was really nowhere to get all the supplies from (before),” said sixth-grade student Leo Durney.
“(Now)
we have magnets that we can put together, plastic straws, Legos and
keva planks: wooden planks that you can put together to do really cool
engineering projects,” said student Elle Molalley.
Together,
the students have already raised more than $551 dollars from the sale
of all of their crafts from the market, which took place every day last
week, and the entrepreneurs are now taking special orders.
“The
makerspace is a dedicated area, where you can put all your imagination
and make cool, creative, objects,” said class president Ali Daigle.
“With the school store, we made sure everyone had a part in this. You
could design whatever you want.”
The
students designed creations on their computers before sending designs
to the printer, which has several different blades to cut everything
from balsa wood to sticker paper. Celino Eto recently had her ears
pierced, and she loved her new baubles so much that she decided she
would make some for others, shaped like the Killington sign and
lightning bolts.
“I had moons too, but they all sold out,” Eto said.
Knowing
how popular key chains are, Olivia Grasso designed some for the
Killington school, on sale for $5. Matthew Harvey and Kolby Bradley
designed their own stickers and bookmarks with the letters “KES”
emblazoned across the front.
“I
wanted to make something small, but not too small,” Grasso said. “One
of my favorite things to buy when I’m traveling to another place is
maybe a key chain.”
The
students also made friendship bracelets with the Killington colors,
royal blue and lime green. Durney and classmate Joffre Legayada designed
surprise boxes, octagonal paper boxes filled with a host of secret
trinkets to be discovered once it’s purchased: a pint-sized treasure
chest.
Molalley and
Daigle researched best-selling products, and found mugs to be an
ever-popular souvenir, so they designed mountain logos for their
Killington Elementary School mugs and sold them for $8 apiece.
“Mugs are something that are hard to beat,” Molalley said.
“The
kids really did build their own business model,” Simonds said. “The
first step that they all did was they researched the products and
materials they could use. From there, they made prototypes, tested their
prototypes and eventually made their products. ... We sold out of
everything in four days.”
After
wild success with their first Cricut machine, Simonds said, the school
applied for a grant for three more that were received in November.
The
students, some of whom are from other states, said they thought leaving
the Gaga net and a mural of themselves, soon to be started, would be a
positive way of ushering in the new class of students and encouraging
them to leave the school better than when they found it.
“I’ve
only been here a year,” Eto said. “I’m really sad, because I have to go
back to (New Jersey) my home, and this school is really fun.”
As
the leaders of the school, Simonds said, her class has set a standard
for next year’s fifth-grade class. She hopes to expand the store as the
years go on and the torch is passed onto next year’s sixth-grade class.
“It’s wonderful for them to leave their mark,” Simonds said.
katelyn.barcellos
@rutlandherald.com
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