St. John Paul II Catholic School (JP2) students have finished their marketplace projects, displaying their creativity and unique hand-made items to be sold in hopes of raising $10,000, most of which will be donated directly to a charity of their choosing.
Alicia Burdess, Assistant Principal of JP2 in Grande Prairie, says without question this is her favourite day of the year.
“This year we have a hybrid version of the marketplace. In the gym right now we have our grade 9 students set up and we have groups of other students and staff set up where groups of other students and staff come through to see their work,” she says.
Burdess, year after year, is thrilled to see the creativity and passion students put into these projects. Leah Holler of Women Building Futures came through once again to supply loans for the students.
“Leah said that this year is probably the best she’s seen in terms of quality of products and she’s been involved in this event with us for years now,” she says.
In addition to items available for sale in the school gym, anyone can purchase items through an online auction.
“So far we are doing really well and every time an auction gets bought, anyone monitoring the online sales gets an email notification,” she explains. “Our goal is to raise $10,000 in sales, which we will use to pay back our loans, and then we will donate the rest to a charity the students vote on.”
Students have really enjoyed participating in the marketplace for the first time and Burdess says that the six-week project really gives them an idea of what running their own business is like.
“Some of the booths are slower selling in person because the markets are different. Some projects have already sold out in the gym and still have a few pieces available online, so they have the dynamic of deciding how to proceed with their sales strategy,” she says.
Not only are students trying to sell their products but Burdess says that the students participating have supported one another really well, such as when sales are slow to start the day.
“It’s a very nice sense of camaraderie and competition,” she says.
The top three performing booths have the option to sell their products at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market on Saturday, December 18th.