Thousands Of Boston Students To Participate In Lemonade Day
BOSTON (CBS) - There will be a lot of lemonade for sale around Boston on Saturday. 3,300 school students will be participating in Lemonade Day Boston.
Program Director Suzanne Picher of Babson College explained, "Lemonade Day is an instructional program that teaches elementary and middle school aged kids about entrepreneurship. There are two parts to the program: the instructional component, and then their business launch on the first Saturday in May."
Dozens of students gathered at the Boston Metropolitan District Building Trades Council to get some professional help from carpenters on building and decorating the stands they will take out into the community.
Kory Garcia, a 4th grader at the Orchard Gardens School, already sounded like a seasoned businessman as he worked on his stand.
When asked about the hardest part of preparing a budget, Garcia responded, "That you want to get everything you really want, but you don't have enough money."
Lennaya Dixon, a 4th grader at Up Academy, described what she has learned in launching a business. "Some things are complicated, but you have to push through it and work hard as a team."
Picher is gratified to hear students talk that way. "We really want them to take away that they are in control of their future."
The curriculum encourages students to spend some of the money they make, to save some, and then to donate a portion.
Last year, students donated $2,000 to the One Fund Boston.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh stopped by to watch the students put final preparations on their stands. He appreciated seeing so much support for the city's schools. "You have the Carpenters' union that does so much for the community. You have Gilbane, a contractor herein the city of Boston, invested in the community. Babson College in the region, and invested in the community. So it is really a partnership that we need more of."
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