Barbara Hill, a teacher from Bartlett Elementary, developed a unique way to raise profits through a different kind of bake sale. Barbara and her class make and sell pretzels to help raise the money they need for UNICEF.
Making and selling pretzels helps teach the kids about donating their time and a few principles on how to run a business. Thanks to the Daily Herald for sharing this story and best of luck to Barbara Hill and her pretzel making class!
(Daily Herald - Arlene Miles, 11/12/2007)
Ideas for school projects sometimes occur when you least expect them.
That's what happened when Barbara Hill read a Scholastic News article with her class. Thus was born an annual fundraiser where fourth-graders at Bartlett Elementary School make fancy pretzels to raise money for UNICEF.
The fundraiser is in its fifth year with about $1,000 raised and donated annually.
The fourth-grade classes alternate weeks to make and sell the pretzels, taking pre-orders on a Monday, making the pretzels on a Thursday, and selling the goodies on a Friday.
About 600-1,000 pretzels are sold for 50 cents apiece each week during the fundraiser.
The students dip pretzel rods into melted chocolate, sometimes spooning the thick concoction onto the pretzel. Parents donate the supplies used to make the treats. The entire process takes about 90 minutes.
"We watch them (the students) like hawks to make sure that their hands stay where they are supposed to while they're making the pretzels so we don't get any bacteria in there," Hill said.
The fourth-grade curriculum also incorporates what it is like to own and maintain a business, Hill added. Producing and selling the pretzels, is, in a way, a miniature business. Thus, the activity serves two purposes: to educate students about charitable work as well as what it takes to run a business.
"This is one of the few fundraising activities where the kids are doing all of the work," Hill said. They have a greater understanding of what it takes to donate their time."
Of course, there is one additional benefit from participating in this fundraiser. Students get to eat the leftovers -- and who wouldn't enjoy?