Four students in Mr. O’Connor’s class at Maplewood created their own fundraiser recently and raised over $200 for the intermediate school. They learned a lot about what it means to work together and what goes into running a successful business.

Fourth-graders Henry Thorn, Miroslav Lucey, AJ Demarest, and Jonah Becker began this venture in Mr. O’Connor’s class after seeing their peers show interest in purchasing handmade, customized bracelets.

The four found themselves learning a lot about what it’s like to run a business from start to finish. While Henry worked on creating the colorful rainbow loom bracelets, AJ took charge of creating the customizable bracelet version - and even getting help from dad to make business cards for the company they named Ultra Bracelits. Miroslav put his organizational skills to work as he created schedules for classmates who wanted to help with sales, and Jonah helped oversee the operation and sales.

With only four days of selling bracelets, the crew managed to make more than $200! They set up shop in front of the reading room at Maplewood and in the hallway by their classroom, selling the colorful loom bracelets for $1 and the customized bracelets for $2.

“I think these four gentlemen are very impressive. They all worked very hard on making this come to reality,” shared Maplewood Principal, Dr. Hender. “We met several times and, throughout each step, they brought all the ideas and were really learning what it's like to be a true entrepreneur. They carried it through and had a very successful adventure.”

The boys have known each other for a number of years, and with their shared love of physical education and recess, the crew decided that 100% of the revenue would go toward new sports equipment for the school.

Henry, AJ, Miroslav and Jonah were quick to thank their parents, Dr. Hender, Mr. O’Connor, and their classmates for all of their support in this endeavor. And we have them to thank for new equipment that will be enjoyed by them and their peers!

Principal of Maplewood, Dr. Bill Hender, standing with young entrepreneurs (left to right) AJ Demarest, Miroslav Lucey, Jonah Becker and Henry Thorn.