Economy thrives at Granville Intermediate School

Business was booming this week at Granville Intermediate School, where the production of goods could not keep pace with the demand.

The seventh annual Economics Sale, conducted for two hours on Feb. 8-9 by the fourth-grade classes of Susan Tallentire and Laura Pleasants, was a success, with all of the proceeds going to the Healing Arts Mission in Haiti.

"It's all based on an economics unit," Tallentire said. "In the weeks leading up to the sale, the students learn about land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. They each come up with a business idea and create a product at home with their families. Last year, they earned $3,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation, and we sent a GIS student with cancer to the Bahamas."

"It's awesome," said Intermediate School Principal Gayle Burris. "Every year, the sale gets bigger and better. The fourth-graders vote on the cause they want to sponsor; it has real meaning for them."

Among the big sellers this year, Fuzzy Wacky Glasses were sported by sellers and buyers alike. The neon-colored, 25-cent pipe-cleaner spectacles fashioned by Gavin Ross and his father sold out both days. As with any successful venture, this one required fine-tuning.

"We were just walking through Walmart, and my dad said, 'Let's see what we can do with pipe cleaners.' The glasses have evolved a whole bunch since then. They went from a cheap thing to something better when we added more pipe cleaners."

Other blockbusters included felted Amazing Monster Casing for iPods, Locker Buddies magnets, Anna's Creative Crayons made from melted crayons and personalized with faces, Guitar Pick Pendants, Bookworm Buddies, Kailee's Rockin' Bottle Caps emblazoned with sayings like "Charm" and "Um, Duh" and Aces Flying Straws.

For the hungry, the options ranged from popcorn to cupcake push pops. The longest line was at the Sno Cones booth, where Becky Miller was making fast change while Kate Brautigan and her mother handed out cups of ice filled with syrup. They made $140 the first day and had sold $150 worth with an hour left on the second day.

Niamh Jacobsen said she got the idea for her Pet Fruits stand from her favorite YouTube show "The Annoying Orange."

"I asked Mom to make some faces on fruit and I gave them cool names: Abby Apple, Olive and Olivia Orange, Page Pear and Banana Bob," she said. "He (Bob) sold out first. I think people like the name."

Like a true entrepreneur, Jacobsen had a marketing strategy.

"If I had just put these fruits in a box, nobody would buy them, but I gave them names," she said.

A store's sign also can make a difference. Sarah Law's sign, Painted Rox, had a unique origin: "I ran out of space to write Rocks, but I think it looks cool this way."

Among the more inspired offerings were Keely Spens' Feathered Friends Cupcakes, intended not for fourth-graders but for birds. Decorated with seeds and raisins, the goodies looked tasty, and Spens said she had seen some chickadees in the backyard doing test sampling.

Kate Hyman at Pirate Pete's was selling homemade dog biscuits and cat toys made of spools and feathers.

And budding journalist Mary Kate Hill had elected to write, edit and publish her own newspaper, "The GIS Journal."

Some of the sellers, with an hour to go, were dumping inventory with reduced pricing.

"People didn't have enough money, so I reduced the cost," said Chloe Garcia of her $3 Cool Candles.

While fourth-graders from other classes were the biggest buyers, the crowd included teachers, family and community members and bigwigs.

"Even the superintendent and the director of curricular instruction stopped by," Tallentire said.

Louise Stewart had come all the way from Virginia Beach to see her grand-niece Lilly Stewart's Big and Small Suckers, made from chocolate and poured into flower-shaped molds.

"This is a great way to raise money," elementary school teacher Louise Stewart said. "Kids learn this way. It's hands-on and creative, and they learn the value of money."