MCC Business Students Become Teachers For A Day

On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, business students from Manchester Community College became “teachers” for the day.

Twenty-nine MCC students participated in the Junior Achievement day at St. James School in Manchester. With grade-appropriate curriculum designed by Junior Achievement, MCC students took center stage to engage students and teach them about the various aspects of business. It was a great opportunity for MCC students to share their enthusiastic knowledge of business with an ambitious group of elementary and middle school students.

In the kindergarten classroom, Amanda Bahler and Margarita Matos read storybooks aloud about saving, trading, and earning money by doing chores at home.

First graders learned about the difference between needs and wants and also discussed the role each of the children’s parents has in our economy. Lola Altise, Roxie Repa, Kelli Connors, Romell Thompson, Ewelina Malska and Ashley Lesoveck each taught in the first grade classroom.

Community was the focus in second grade where Carter Robertson, Patrick Stewart, Marcella Ketchum and Matt Gorr engaged students and explored the impact of small businesses in the community. One activity compared the outcomes of two groups making donuts; one used individual units of production and the other used the assembly-line method.

In third grade, the students learned about zoning and forming a business from teachers-for-a-day, Shenee Burell and Andrew Davis.

In fourth grade, Julie Thomas, Zach Grakowsky, Trevor Drysdale and Josh Tyler taught students about the important aspects of profit and loss through a life-like game of choices and risk.

In the fifth grade, Jake Bouchard and Kristen Chasse taught students about resources and the economy. Some activities looked at the top resources in each state and another activity using a network of string showed students the interconnected global aspects of building a car with resources and input from around the globe.

Sixth graders learned about entrepreneurship while playing a “Jeopardy-like” game and teamed up to design a blueprint for their own youth club. Kristen Nahorney, Marc Edgecomb, Devin MacKenzie, Rafeal Mendez, Jr. and Christopher Sandoval worked with sixth grade students.

Marlena Powers, Ashley Farrah, Nicole Calabretta and Jonathan Barriga engaged the seventh and eighth graders to further explore money management and career choices along with an activity that highlighted the spending power difference between paying cash or buying on credit.

Each of the MCC students led activities and lessons designed to help the students of St. James learn more about business and its impact on our community. Martin Hart, instructor of accounting and business, along with Maria Koistinen and Jackie Bishop of MCC’s Academic Community Engagement (ACE) provided oversight and support for the MCC students who were teachers for the day.

Overall, the day was a fantastic success! One student best summed it up, “At first I was very nervous to be leading the class, but once I was there I really enjoyed the experience. The day was over before I knew it. I would definitely do it again and recommend it to others”.