Thanks to a request from Carina in Cooperstown, we are now offering TREP$ Team Buttons for your Teachers and Parent Volunteers to wear at the Marketplace.  $20 for a dozen.

Click here to order, or request them when you order your workbooks and aprons.

Have you connected with us on FACEBOOK yet?  

Please click the link and join our group!!  We are keeping it current with the Marketplace dates... It's becoming a community where people involved in the program can ask questions and offer suggestions.  We can all learn from each other- so check it out!

My name is Marco Caprioni and I am an 11 year old student from Schuyler Colfax Middle School located in Wayne, NJ.  I really enjoy sports.  When I joined TREPS and had to come up with an idea for a business I knew it had to involve sports.  The idea began with mini stress footballs with the school name.  We can all get a little stressed out at times.  This item could appeal to almost everyone in the school.  The more people interested in my product the more successful my business would be.  I then started thinking of names.  I decided on "Schuyler Sports Concepts".   

During the workshops I learned that the MARKETPLACE would attract many people.  Since I would have such a large audience I quickly decided to expand my line.  This then included Schuyler Sports Bags in red and white.  These bags could be used for holding books, gym clothes, lunch etc.  These bags would also promote school awareness.

With the help of my Mom we started to make calls to many manufacturers.  The challenge was to get a nice bag and keep it very affordable.  I wanted everyone to have an opportunity to buy the Schuyler Sports Bag as well as the Schuyler Stress ball.  We decided on the manufacturer that gave us the most for our money.  We had to approve layouts and orders.  We then went into production.

I had an initial order of 50 Schuyler Sports Bags and 50 Schuyler Stress balls.  Once they arrived I had to prepare them for sale.  With the help of my Mom we stuffed and packaged the sports bags and stress balls.  With the MARKETPLACE only one day away I didn't know what to expect.  When the day came and the doors opened I knew the idea would be a success. 

Another major highlight was the appearance of Wayne Township Mayor Chris Vergano along with Board of Education members, teachers and administrators.  They had come for the ribbon cutting ceremony and to support all the businesses.  Mayor Vergano mentioned in his speech that he himself had attended Schuyler Colfax Middle School.  When Mayor Vergano came to my booth I presented him with his own Schuyler Sports Bag,  I hoped it would remind him of the years he had spent at Schuyler.  He even told me he would display the bag in his office.  Thank you Mayor Vergano.  Thanks also to all the teachers, parents, grandparents and friends for all you support.

I kept a sales inventory sheet so that I would know exactly how many bags I sold and how much money I should have.  The bags were $6.00 and the stress balls were $2.00.  A portion of all proceeds would be donated to Schuyler Colfax Middle School.  I sold 38 bags and 30 stress balls for a total of $288.  This was more than I had expected.  I was excited.

On the day after the MARKETPLACE all of Schuyler was talking about TREPS.  The entrepreneurs were comparing their profits.  It was great to see the teachers displaying their bags and stress balls.  Some students even came up to me with additional requests.  The teachers mentioned how proud we all made them.  It was a great experience and I look forward to continuing with my business.

Hi!   My name is Marissa Cobuzio and I'm an 8th grader at Walter T. Bergen School in Bloomingdale, NJ.  I recently participated in my second TREP$ Market Place.  

My journey started way back, almost 7 years ago! I've always had a deep passion for animals. At the age of 6, I started donating money to my local animal shelter. I raised the money by running lemonade stands, holding a carnival, selling cookies and juice at local soccer games, and saving my allowance.

 Ever since I was young, I've enjoyed thinking up business ideas, but I also knew I wanted to volunteer my time to help animals. Two years ago, I was finally allowed to volunteer at our shelter. Later, my TREP$ partner, Erica Steenstra, joined my mom and me in our weekly volunteer shift. Ever since, Erica and I have been donating money and supplies as well as our time. Our biggest donation of all, so far, was made possible by the profit we made through the TREP$ program. Erica and I were able to make enough money to buy the shelter a brand-new, large-capacity dryer.  This is something they desperately needed.

I have participated in TREP$ twice. My first year I worked by myself running a business called Sweet Dreams. I made and sold tye-dyed pillow cases. On some of them I sewed on fabric shapes to make them stand-out. That was a huge success and I still have people asking me if I'll be making more! That year, I donated half of my profit to the shelter.  

This past year, Erica and I worked together to create and make stylish bandannas, beds, and yummy treats for pets. We called our business Critter Creations. I was really motivated to make this Trep$ Market Place an especially successful one because, as I said before, we intended to use our profit to buy the shelter a brand-new dryer.  We succeeded!   

Our bandannas were all different sizes and patterns and were made with a Velcro closure. We picked out the fabric, cut the patterns, and sewed them ourselves (with Mom's supervision). We even added little hand-made fabric designs to make them different from an average pet bandanna. We only had a couple left over and we gave them to the shelter where they were used to enhance the dogs' photos used on the shelter's website. The beds were made with fabric and fluff and were a big hit.  We were sold out of those by the end of the night. As for the treats, they were also home made from recipes that we researched and found on the internet.  The treats were tested for tastiness by Tiger (my dog), KC (my cat), and Zoe (Erica's dog).  In addition to the animal products, Erica and I also sold handmade wooden bubble gum machines which we assembled ourselves. We felt that it was a good business idea to have something for those who don't own a pet.

TREP$ is more than just an after school activity. I really learned a lot from the workshops and the Market Place experience. Trep$ teaches you how to come up with a good product, figure out who would buy your product, determine fair but profitable pricing, develop good advertising,  and keep track of your money and loans.  TREP$ also helped me learn how to approach customers, how to work with other people, and how to have things done by a dead line, etc. I'm not going to lie, my partner and I had our fair share of disagreements; however, this definitely taught me how to make reasonable compromises. We both worked through our differences and this, without a doubt, taught me a life-long skill.