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Dear Friends,
It's time to celebrate TEN YEARS OF TREP$!It was January of 2006- ten years ago- that we began the very first implementation of TREP$. We are so proud of how the program has grown and how many children have been influenced by this empowering experience. Thank you for your part in that success! So much is going on! ASCD Express published a column by Stacey Ortense that explores the benefits of entrepreneurship education, "TREPS puts rigorous content in a meaningful and motivating context... ...Because they have a chance to do real work, our students are highly motivated and engaged throughout the entire TREPS curriculum." read moreThe Winter Spring Calendar is out and it's filled with wonderful schools proud to help their students experience the thrills of launching their first businesses! National Entrepreneurship Week is scheduled for February 20-27th. Give some thought about how your school can celebrate! Join us in Sparta at one of the three TREP$ Marketplaces that week. NJ Makers Day is March 18 and 19, see the article below for more details. Get on board! NEW to TREP$- We'd like to welcome Franklin Borough School, Watchung School in Montclair and Byram Intermediate School to our TREP$ Family of Schools! THANK YOU to the Sussex County Administrators and Supervisors Association for having us come in and speak about the TREP$ program! We'd love to present at your meeting, just invite us! Facebook Challenge Update- Three schools took the challenge in the fall and ALL THREE WON! Congratulations to Westbrook School, Paradise Knoll School and Maple Road School. Ready for your free TREP$ Banner?? TREP$ Certificate of Participation is now available in MS WORD for student name input. Click here if you'd like a copy. Spotlight TREP$! We have some great write-ups to share with you- written by and about young entrepreneurs (who also qualify as "Makers!") we met this fall. Their stories are so inspiring. Scroll down to meet Emma and Cassidy from Westbrook School in West Milford, NJ, Michael from McKeown School in Newton, NJ, and Brooke from Paradise Knoll School in Oak Ridge, NJ.
As always, thank you for being a part of this important and extraordinarily fun mission.
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NJ 2nd Annual Makers Day Celebration
Friday March 18 and Saturday March 19
Background Info: According to Adweek, "The maker movement, as we know, is the umbrella term for independent inventors, designers and tinkerers. A convergence of computer hackers and traditional artisans, the niche is established enough to have its own magazine, Make, as well as hands-on Maker Faires that are catnip for DIYers who used to toil in solitude. Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance and combine that with open-source learning, contemporary design and powerful personal technology like 3-D printers. The creations, born in cluttered local workshops and bedroom offices, stir the imaginations of consumers numbed by generic, mass-produced, made-in-China merchandise." There is currently a swelling of energy in the educational sector for kids to have more time in MAKING things- the value of which to their development is enormous. In TREP$, a great deal of the young entrepreneurs do MAKE their products, which we believe gives them the opportunity to learn the most from the experience. NJ Makers Day: On Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, 2016 makers from across New Jersey will be participating in the inaugural NJ Makers Day to celebrate and share maker culture. Commercial and public makerspaces will be hosting a wide variety of events and presenters, while other locations -- such as select public libraries -- will also host makerspaces for the day. In each location, NJ Makers Day will attract entrepreneurs, small business owners and young professionals, as well as children, teens and parents from across the state to share their enthusiasm for and interest in the culture of making and creating.
The ultimate goal of NJ Makers Day is to enhance community engagement and develop connections among New Jersey residents by collaborating with libraries, museums, schools, colleges/universities, small businesses and others to promote and explore new opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation and hands-on learning experiences. Click here for more information about NJ Makers Day.
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Meet Emma and Cassidy, of "Holiday Cheer"
Our names are Emma and Cassidy and we are in 5th grade. Our brothers took part in TREP$ last year and we saw how much they loved it, so we were so excited to participate in TREP$ this year! We have been friends for many years and when we get together we love to craft and sew. When we found out that TREP$ was going to be in December we immediately decided to create holiday gifts!!
We came up with two ideas for our merchandise. Our first idea was to combine our two favorite things...candy and sewing. We came up with the idea to make snowman chocolate bars. We started off by hand sewing our snowman hats for the craft but it
became very time consuming. We decided to ask Gram if we could use her sewing machine to create the craft. So on one Sunday morning, after a much needed sleepover, Gram came over and she taught us how to use her sewing machine. Then we took turns sewing each hat and in no time we sewed 40 snowman hats! We both loved using the sewing machine so much that we decided we would use profits from TREP$ to buy our own sewing machines. Imagine all the crafting we could do.!!!
Our second idea came from a family friend who had suggested making ornaments. We decided to make scrabble ornaments because we knew that people would love them. We
bought 300 tiles from an internet site. The challenge was to create as many holiday words as possible utilizing the letters we had. We got very creative and used up most of our tiles including the blank ones.!!!
We were so excited for the big night! We dressed in matching holiday outfits because we wanted to "dress for success." We decorated our table with a miniature battery lit Christmas tree which we used to display our holiday ornaments. We also put our snowmen candy bars in a festive basket. Everyone loved our display and items. We sold all 40 of our candy bar snowmen in the first half hour! We also sold most of our scrabble ornaments. At one point during the night someone asked if we could make custom name ornaments. We thought that was a wonderful idea! Word spread fast and by the end of the night we had an additional 15 orders. We have already decided that next year we will make the scrabble ornaments again but this time we will advertise making custom ornaments!!!
We had a wonderful TREP$ experience. We had a lot of success and we were proud of ourselves because although we had help from our families, we were able to make all of our
products ourselves. Not only did we love making our TREP$ merchandise we really loved the smiles of the people who bought the items. Only 365 more days until TREP$ next year and we can't wait!
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Meet Michael of "Suds of Fun"
Marian McKeown School, Newton, NJ
When I saw a TREP$ Kick Off video during class, I was determined to make something and sell it at the TREP$ Marketplace! The only thing was... I didn't know what to do.
After some thinking I got an idea of making soaps for kids. Basically the soaps have something inside of them like dinosaurs, rubber ducks, or Lego mini figures. I knew that parents want kids to wash so I thought why not make it fun to wash! So I bought some big blocks of glycerin soap, melted it down, added color and fragrance and poured it into molds. I added the figures, let the soap cool and you have fun soaps! My brother tried the soaps and he said they were great and smelled good too. "That's just what I wanted to hear" I said. I made a lot more soaps that night.
The night of the TREP$ Marketplace was nerve wracking. I was thinking how would I greet the customer? Would I sell out? Or would I sell any at all? Once it started everyone was buying my product. One by one they were going and fast! I saw a lot of my teachers and friends. I was having a blast that night and it went by so fast. At the end of the night I completely sold out of 50 soaps, and made a profit of $80! I am looking forward to TREP$ next year. I have a feeling that I'm going to have great time again making more soaps and learning how to run a business.
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Meet Brooke, of "Delicate Designs"
Paradise Knoll School, Oak Ridge, NJ
As a fifth grader, this was my first year participating in TREP$. I went to prior Marketplaces at my school and that gave me the idea to design my product. In the summer, I began making my good luck stones and clay dishes. I thought this was a good time to start because I had enough time to plan. It made sense to make clay dishes because people may need a place to put their money and jewelry. Then I started to make my good luck stones. The stone idea was taken from Pinterest. The stones were free from my front lawn so I saved lots of money. I hand-painted different designs on each stone. I knew the stones would make great decorations for any space. I made sixty stones and seventy-five clay dishes. My company's name was "Delicate Designs."
Finally, it was the evening of the Marketplace. Before I even started selling, people were saying they would definitely come and buy something. The first ten minutes no one bought anything, but they did come and look. Ten minutes later, I sold my first item! By the end of the night I sold a good percentage of my product. When I came home I had $131.00. Then, I had to pay my mom for the supplies and my dad back the money I owed him for making change. After I paid back all my expenses, I ended up making a profit of a very small amount. What I realized was that I could have made more money, if I would have made less of the product. Hopefully, I can sell them next year with other items and still make a profit.
Even though I did not make a lot of money, I will definitely participate in TREP$ next year. It was fun making the two products, selling them, meeting people, making change, and hearing compliments about my creations. My hard work definitely paid off!
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