April 10, 2002
Bread making lesson in economics for students
Junior Achievement examines aspects of business
By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer
It's never too early for children to start learning about business. At least that's the theory behind Anna Cosme's visit to a classroom of kindergartners at Bertha Vos Elementary School on Monday.
Cosme, a Junior Achievement volunteer, conducted the first lesson in a five-part series illustrating simple business concepts like trading and counting money.
Junior Achievement is a volunteer driven, nonprofit organization, that promotes the education of local youth in business, economics and the free enterprise system. The Michigan Great Lakes, Northwest Michigan Service office has reached 3,300 students in 151 elementary classes, five junior high classes and nine high school programs in Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Leelanau and Kalkaska counties in this school year alone.
Monday's lesson consisted of a story about children trading for ingredients - flour, eggs and milk - to make bread while visiting their uncle's farm.
"I'm really hoping that the kids get the idea of what trading is," said Cosme. "The stories are simple enough that the concepts are something they will understand."
Once the story was read, the students in Kristen Schnoover's class got a chance to roll up their sleeves and mix together their own batter of flour, eggs and milk.
When the ingredients were mixed, Cosme produced a small loaf of bread for each of the children to take home. However, she had an explanation for the rapid rise of the loaves. "Have you ever watched a cooking show, when they mix all the ingredients and then all of a sudden it appears, that is what happened here today," she noted.
Cosme, who says she became a Junior Achievement volunteer at the urging of a friend, found the experience to be a rewarding one. "It was fun and I think the kids enjoyed it and learned from it too," she said.