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By Joanne M. Haas
“We truly believe that the kids made a little history,” teacher Art Greco said of the sophomores, juniors and seniors in his Introduction to Business Class. The students formed their own non-profit entity and solicited students, staff and area businesses for donations for the hurricane relief effort. Greco, who has taught at Stevens Point Area High School (SPASH) since 2000, said the project is an outgrowth of his philosophy that the best way to learn is to do. “I’m really concerned about facilitating the learning process so they can learn about themselves. And so they can reflect, and grow … and choose the right career or job that suits them,” he said. And that real-world-meets-the-classroom method includes learning from mistakes – no matter how messy. “There were some serious struggles. It wasn’t all just peachy keen,” Greco said of the four-month run of SPASH H.O.P.E. (Helping Out People Everywhere). “They had struggles motivating each other.” And there were rough days learning from mistakes about decision-making, the business plan and promotion. Or, as senior Kyle Shulfer summed up the lessons: “You have to build the stage before you can have the show.” Greco stressed he wasn’t trying to minimize the business aspect of the project, but said the students reported in their reflection papers it was the soft skills of interacting with peers and others that offered the greatest lessons. “It says a lot about these kids,” Greco said. “They can be so different and unite for a cause and see it is worthy. “Business isn’t just about making money all the time.” Building the stage Senior Kris Johannsen was selected by his classmates to be president of their non-profit operation. “As president, my (job) was to keep things organized and make sure everything was going as planned,” Johannsen said. Junior Brad Koch came up with the non-profit’s target. “There are 2,000 students. And if we each donated $5, we’d get $10,000,” he said. Still, the total seemed daunting, the students said in an interview at their SPASH classroom. Junior Devin Brown, who says his initial thoughts about medical school have been replaced with a goal to work in public relations, said the class was organized into sections such as advertising, human relations, financing and more to tackle the project. “I like to talk and get my face out there,” Brown said, adding the students made flyers, local media appearances and spots on the student-run Cable Channel 99 to spread the word from mid-September to early January. The group used several methods to raise donations – including tapping into people’s good will and the generosity that tends to be more pronounced during the holiday season. The class also staffed donation stations, held a lucrative bake sale featuring student creations, created a holiday tree ornament competition between the grades, had a jazz concert, sold wrist bands and more. Staffing donation buckets put the students face-to-face with their peers. Some were OK with it. Some shuddered at the thought of it. But they all learned how to read donation trends and modify when to get out the buckets and how to change a sales pitch. “I went from saying, ‘Got any spare change?’ to ‘Got any spare change for Katrina victims because they’re not having a Christmas this year?’ ” said senior Travis Kath. “And it worked.” When morale was down a bit, it was the roughly $2,500 in business donations secured by sophomore Dan Weyers that reignited the effort. “When Dan brought in his money, it really motivated us,” said sophomore Cassandra “C.J.” Henke. Senior Kaitlin Berg said the bake sale was key for those students who wanted to do their part but didn’t want to solicit donations. “We did that over two days,” she said. Johannsen said he had his doubts early on. “At first, $10,000 seemed extremely steep,” he said. But he learned that, “If you really work at it, you can raise money and accomplish what you want to.” And there were the sometimes daily “power talks” from Greco to help keep the motivation up – especially when they were grappling with tough lessons about time management, organizational structure, communication, and business plans. “The student body and staff really rallied behind these kids,” Greco said, adding the response from the business community was impressive as well. “People really did care,” Brown said. “They were willing to contribute and they wanted to.” In the end, a giant $10,000 check was presented to the American Red Cross for its work with the hurricane victims. And Johannsen got to shave Greco’s head, making good on the teacher’s promise to become temporarily bald if the goal was reached. The power of peer pressure “Some of it was just talking to their peers and interacting. Some kids were really uncomfortable with that,” he said. Some students got mad at each other. Others, he said, faced the perceived lazy students, expressed their disappointment and then did the work themselves. The silent treatment was popular, as was talking loud enough for others to hear. “Peer pressure was one of the main ways they dealt with that,” he said. Greco said he’s already been asked by students what’s up for next year. He’s not sure. But one thing he is sure about. “I have an incredible group of students,” he said, “who set – and reached – an incredible goal.” • • • Tomah EA collects books More articles about our Great Schools Posted March 24, 2006 |
