DON’T LET the image of a roadside lemonade stand staffed with a child dreaming of a pony fool you. Lemonade Day is the real deal. Instead of a pony, the stands’ operators are dreaming of owning and managing their own business. They’re making plans to give back to the community. Life skills are being impressed upon area students participating in the visionary program.
Lemonade Day is a national program founded in 2007 by Michael Holthouse to inspire and empower today’s youth to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. It guides them through starting, owning, and operating a business of their own. A mentor, parent, or organization assists the students with the lessons on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and community development.
Katy Riddle, executive director of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, learned of Lemonade Day when she attended a chamber of commerce conference. Like Holthouse, Riddle saw the potential of today’s youth as tomorrow’s leaders and business owners. She wanted the program to be available to as many local youths as possible. Riddle had an idea.
Riddle explained the program and her idea for its use in the classroom to Dr. Mick Shuran, Manchester City Schools’ director of curriculum. Manchester is only the second community in Tennessee to participate in Lemonade Day and the first to incorporate it as a curriculum.
“I wanted the most kids to have access to the program. Some kids don’t have the resources to complete the self-guided program. This wouldn’t have been possible without Dr. Shuran’s work. He caught the vision and found a way to implement the program for fourth grade students at Westwood and College Street Elementary schools,” said Riddle.
On May 19, 2022, Manchester lemonade stands, staffed by these hardworking student business owners, dotted Manchester parking lots. It was official! The date was proclaimed Lemonade Day by Manchester Vice Mayor Mark Messick. The community, schools, and area businesses came together to lend their locations, encouragement, and financial support.
Kari Lawson, a fourth grade teacher at Westwood Elementary School, worked on the program with students and recognized its value.
“We had a fantastic experience. I think it has really great potential. The conversations we had about money are ones not every kid necessarily has at home. It also gave them some things to think about when they have extra money,” Lawson said.
Manchester City Schools provided each student with the book Lemonade War, which students were excited to keep.
Lawson said, “It was perfect. We read the novel first as a class. When we started doing the lessons about the money, setting up the stand, and making decisions, they had some background connections. The kids were very excited to have a copy to keep.”
And what about the money generated from the sales? The program teaches that profits should be divided and used in three ways: reward themselves, donate to community charities, and reinvest for Lemonade Day for the following year’s class.
Westwood students donated $4,500, the bulk of their profits, to the Dusty Elam Foundation in honor of classmate Abe Norman. In deciding how to reward themselves, the students agreed they wanted to spread the rewards throughout the day. They further supported area businesses by purchasing Project Donuts for breakfast, J & G Pizza for lunch, and Snow Bros. shaved ice as an afternoon treat.
Riddle said, “One lemonade stand for one student could be the tiny seed that develops an entrepreneur that’s going to make our community even better. The chamber of commerce plants those seeds. It was very challenging to implement it the way we did. We couldn’t have done it without the collaboration of volunteers, area businesses, teachers, and the school system. We all worked together to make it happen.” GN
