15-04-2025
Students run their own small businesses at Kid Biz Market event in Peoria
Students gathered at Peoria's Fletcher Heights Park on one of their precious days off from school to set up booths, sell their own goods and get a taste of what running a small business is like.
A student-run vendor market on April 12, 2025, let fifth through eighth graders who had taken an after-school business and entrepreneurship class practice skills they learned. The market was hosted by the Parent Student Teacher Organization at Frontier Elementary School, which is part of the Peoria Unified School District and next to the park.
Students from outside Frontier Elementary joined in for the Kid Biz Market event, which featured a variety of business ventures, including traditional lemonade stands, splat toys, pancakes and homemade arts and crafts.
Frontier Elementary's PTSO began hosting its Kid Biz Builder Class in February. The seven-week program brought together interested students to learn about the inner workings of running a business, such as marketing a brand, creating a logo and how to make a profit.
Natalee Sticht, president of Frontier Elementary's PTSO and instructor of the class, encouraged students to figure out a business that would target a 'sweet spot where they're good at it, they enjoy doing it, and they can bring value to people."
As an entrepreneur herself, Sticht was inspired to create the course after her own kids and other Frontier Elementary students expressed interest in becoming business owners. She presented a layout of the class structure and curriculum to the school administration, which was approved.
Thirty-three students across Frontier Elementary's K-8 campus participated in the class in the 2023-24 school year, and 43 students participated this school year.
'I wanted to be able to provide a space for kids that are very creative to express that outside a traditional classroom and then see their hard work come to fruition at a market like this,' Sticht said.
Students got up bright and early to set up booths with custom banners and table skirts showcasing logos they designed during the class.
"We learned about being an entrepreneur and selling our business and how to be nice to people and how to get more people to come,' said Krew Clissle, a fifth grader from Frontier Elementary.
Krew and his schoolmate Clay Howe had a booth called Kandy Crave.
"Two different personalities coming together and creating a business has been interesting," said Amy Howe, Clay's mom and communications coordinator for the Frontier Elementary PTSO.
The boys grew up selling lemonade or bracelets with siblings, and thought the Kid Biz Builder Class would let them develop their skills further.
'I think it's good for them to see what things cost and what they can make and just the responsibility of tallying what they've sold so far and also working together," Howe said.
Many friends at the event thought running a joint venture would be more valuable than doing so alone — or at least more fun.
Eighth graders Miley May, Rebekah Warner and Gwen King participated in the after-school sessions for the second time this year. They decided to host a booth at the Kid Biz Market selling their arts and crafts under the name Star Bound Crafts.
The class gave the girls 'an understanding of how to price and advertise," Warner said. "It was cool because we got people with real businesses to come in and explain how they got started so we can do stuff after this too.'
They found the experience rewarding and encouraged other students to take the class even if they do not have a business idea yet. They might just end up making money, the girls said.
Not every vendor was a Frontier Elementary student. Many businesses at the event were run by students from other schools or in grades below fifth.
'I wanted him to learn these skills because business skills are life skills, and I find it very valuable,' said Kath Saepanh, mother of third grader, Tungi.
As the director of AllBoss Club for Arizona, an entrepreneurship program that encourages hands-on learning for neurotypical children, Saephanh was already teaching her son about running a business. She saw a post promoting the Kid Biz Builder class online and decided to enroll Tungi so he could further develop the entrepreneurial skills that she saw come naturally to him.
Tungi, who is homeschooled, learned the Kid Biz Builder curriculum primarily through recordings he watched on his own time. When the time came to build his business, he bought splat toys with the hope of making a profit by selling them at a market.
Krew, who was selling sweets with his buddy Clay at the Kandy Crave booth, said it was tough to part with money upfront on the possibility of making more at the market.
"It was hard because spending all this money on candies — like, I don't want to spend all this," Krew said. "But then now coming here and making all of it back is super fun."
In addition to putting students' entrepreneurship skills to the test, the Kid Biz Market also helped them develop interpersonal relationships that may outlive their business ventures.
'Even if you don't start your own business, you're gonna have to have that quality of working with other people,' said Krew's mom, Jenica Clissold. 'They might walk away not making any money, but they're going to learn a big thing from that.'
Coverage of education solutions on and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation's Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Students run small businesses at Kid Biz Market event in Peoria
