2nd grade lessons on lending and life.
As if running a couple of businesses out of your classroom isn't hard enough, this year with the split campus we have discovered even more challenges. With half our student body living in the Marina and the other half in Pacific Heights, we have had less opportunity for the casual sell of both product and knowledge. While of course we miss the dollars from the lower school boys coming through the door, what I felt like I was missing the most was the opportunity for the 6th graders to be global educators to the young ones, leaders in their community and change making role models. I missed the informal gathering of lower school students outside the garage map wondering, "what is kiva, and how does it help these people" and watching 6th graders answer that question time and time again. I missed snack time chats in the lower school classrooms and little noses pressed to the glass wondering, "when can I buy that kiva product?"
6th grade peers learn about micro lending.
That said, I decide to shift the focus of quarter 2 from building a sustainable business, to how can we best educate our community about micro lending and Kiva.org in the hopes of them becoming future customers and potential lenders? The timing was perfect as our student fair was right around the corner and all proceeds were being donated the overhead costs of kiva.org.
The boys worked hard at creating age appropriate presentations for the lower school and we headed down to teach them about micro lending and kiva.org. From Big Bear's Loan example used in kindergarten to using Kiva.org's video about Pedro alongside a presentation with 5th and 6th graders. We had extended talks about setting up ice cream sales using an ice cream maker you buy at Target that leads to sales and profit and prezi's that describe the entire process of micro lending through kiva.org. Don't forget the istop motion video too. It was creative and educational and I am pretty sure we made a difference.
While we can't always see the impact of our global lessons so quickly, the second graders really want to follow in our footsteps. One boys weekend juice sale profits are going to a loan in a second grade classroom and who wouldn't vote for this kid?
