April  2016
Friends,
Spring is finally here and we have some very exciting things growing in our TREP$ garden!  Check out these new entertaining videos!

The TREP$ Informational video is animated and so much fun.  Please share it with friends and family in towns that have not yet found TREP$. 

Parents can watch the new video, Supporting your 'trep, to learn the best way to help the young entrepreneurs as they build their first businesses.

You're going to love the short video that helps people visualize how we came up with The Name "TREP$."

Wish we had an animated video to address a TREP$ topic?  We'd love to hear your suggestions! Click here to send us your idea!

We also stumbled upon a few commercials that kids had created to promote their businesses and their Marketplaces.  Check these out:  Stickman Studios Animation and Stitches Pillows.  We know many schools have the 'treps creating commercials for their businesses.  Wouldn't be great if they would all upload them!  Perhaps a TREP$ Commercial contest would be a great addition next year!

The TREP$ Website- Like the construction of a home addition, the construction of our new website is taking longer than we had hoped, but is coming along beautifully. Hopefully, next month I will be encouraging you to check that out too.  You're going to love the new look and features.

NEW to TREP$- We'd like to welcome Woodmont School in Montville Township, Pearl Miller School in Kinnelon and James Fallon School in Wayne to our TREP$ Family of Schools!

Spotlight TREP$!  We have some great write-ups to share with you- written by and about young entrepreneurs we met this fall and winter.  Their stories are so inspirational.  Scroll down to meet Jack from Memorial Middle School in Cedar Grove, NJ,  Katie from Westbrook School in West Milford, NJ,  and Mackenze from Schuyler Colfax School in Wayne, NJ.

As always, thank you for being a part of this important and extraordinarily fun mission.
 
Pamela deWaal and Hayley Romano







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Students Are Encouraged to Submit Stories!
We are always looking for students to tell their unique stories to our readers.
To see your students' businesses in the Spotlight 'treps" section of the TREP$ on Track, have them submit write-ups about their experiences.  With their submissions, they should include a photo of them making their product, posing with their product, or standing at their table.  Most write-ups are 250-500 words. Email submissions to pdewaal@trepsed.com.

Meet Jack, of "Master Metal Crafts"
Memorial Middle School, Cedar Grove, NJ
 
My name is Jack and this was my second year participating at the TREP$ Marketplace. I am a 6th grade student from the Memorial Middle School of Cedar Grove.  Last year, I made and sold silly putty. It was called Nuclear Slime because of the neon colors.

This year I wanted to do something more challenging so I created a company called Master Metal Crafts and I came up with the idea to make aluminum medallions with the logo of my favorite game console, Xbox. The idea came to me when I was watching YouTube. First, I thought I was going to be able to melt recycled aluminum cans and use a homemade charcoal furnace like I've seen in the YouTube video. But that did not turn out well. The aluminum cans did not yield too much metal and the charcoal furnace was not hot enough.
I ended up using aluminum ingots and a homemade gas furnace to melt the metal.

For the mold, I used a sand box and stamped the Xbox logo on it. Once the metal was melted, it was poured into the mold and after it cooled I had a medallion. In order to speed up the process, I stamped 3 logos at once. I was able to make about 35 medallions. My dad helped me a lot, especially buying the materials, helping me build the furnace and pouring the melted metal into the mold.   

At the TREP$ Marketplace, I sold half of my medallions at $8 each. I know it was more expensive than other items sold at TREP$, but it also cost more money to make them. A lot of people thought it was very cool. Next year I will probably make other metal products that I will be able to have at different prices. I've learned that sometimes we need to have invest more money in the beginning of a business but it will pay off when you can have products at different prices.
 
I cannot wait until next year to make more metal crafts! 
Meet Katie of "Katie's Creations"
Westbrook School, West Milford, NJ  
 
When I was thinking about signing up to do TREP$, I thought, "Sure, why not?"  I didn't know what was ahead of me. After a few weeks doing the workshops, however, I had my products all ready to sell and was ready for the Marketplace. This is my story.

I always knew I wanted to do something that involved my artwork but I wasn't sure exactly what to do.  After thinking for a while and getting input from people I know who love my    drawings, I came up with an idea of what to sell. I decided to sell "Inside Out" greeting and note cards (best movie ever!) along with some framed artwork.

My business was called Katie's Creations. I drew a really cool logo and I had a sign at my table that said: All drawn by the (a traced picture of my hand) of Katie Scala. I was very proud of that sign and my table.

As I said earlier, I sold cards and frames. For the Inside Out cards, I drew the five emotions from the movie (if you have no idea what Inside Out is, I suggest watch the movie!) My aunt is an artist and she gave me great pointers about coloring and shading in my drawings. My dad helped me make copies of them and put them on cards. For some of the cards, my mom helped me figure out how to put quotes next to the drawings.

Looking at the drawings, even I was shocked how they came out. They looked really good!!
For the framed artwork, we found wood frames and I drew pictures to fit inside of them. I also decorated the frames to go with the picture.

At the TREP$ Marketplace, at first I was nervous. Then I got so many compliments on my work. That made me feel happy to know so many people liked my drawings. At the end of the night, I almost sold out of frames!

Near the end of the evening, I got to go around and see what the other fifth and sixth graders were doing. I saw some really cool products. I think the night worked out very well for everyone.  

When the Marketplace was over, for some reason I felt overwhelmed. I don't remember why, though. When I got home, I counted up all my money and my mood changed. I got so much!

I'm glad I participated in TREP$. I was relieved when it was over, though, because it was a lot of work- but I still had fun. I'll always remember my TREP$ experience.
Meet Mackenze, of "Coast to Coast Company"
 
My name is Mackenze and I am a 6th grader at Schuyler Colfax Middle School. I have always wanted to be part of the TREP$ Marketplace because I love going to craft fairs and seeing what people have created. The name of my business is Coast to Coast Company.  When my dad drank coffee he always left a stain on the counter.  I thought about an idea that would help my mom out. So I did a little research and found a coaster that was both pretty and functional.

I experimented with different techniques to create unique patterns, colors and designs. They came out great.  However, in order for the coaster not to scratch a surface we had to put stoppers on each. This turned out to be one of the more difficult tasks.  First we tried sticking on the stoppers (they had sticky bottoms) but when we tried stacking them, the stoppers fell off. So we tried hot glue. But when we tried to stack them for the display and realized all the bottoms weren't sticking right.  When I came home from school before the Marketplace I decided to gorilla glue them all on the bottoms of the coasters and stack them last minute. My parents had gorilla glue sticky hands for many days because they don't want me touching the glue and having the same thing happen to me right before I would be selling my coasters!

I was so excited at the Marketplace when everyone came to me and asked, "How did you make them?" and "They are very pretty and would look good in my house."  To make the coasters I applied a layer of rubbing alcohol and then put on the special special alcohol inks and watch the patterns grow. Each coaster has 3 layers of acrylic sealer on top. I sold my coasters in packs of 2 for $4 and 4 for $8. In total, I thought that 23 sets would be enough and I would have extra, but I sold all them before the night was over I made a profit of $130 dollars!

I am looking forward to participating in the TREP$ Marketplace next year. I will be coming up with new patterns and color combos.