Students Learn Business and Life Skills by Operating a School Store

Running a store offers a great opportunity to learn practical business skills like budgeting, not to mention “soft” business skills like responsibility and dealing with the public.

That explains why Mr. Strein, a 9th-grade teacher at Bremen High School in Midlothian, Illinois, decided to have his class open and operate a store in their school. More than 75% of his students come from low-income households, and Mr. Strein is eager to help them prepare for careers in business.

“The business students are going to operate a school store located on the main floor of our school, near the cafeteria,” Mr. Strein explains. “The students will understand the daily operations of operating a business. The business students will perform the daily functions, market the products, and keep the books. Each business course will have an opportunity to assist with the school store. The accounting classes will keep the books balanced. The marketing classes will develop and implement a marketing plan. The entrepreneurship classes will create a business plan to follow. The work program classes will work the store. We have most of the equipment, but we are in need of a refrigerator to keep our beverages cold.”

All It Took Was a $575.00 Refrigerator to Get Started

All that Mr. Strein needed to get his project started was a refrigerator. So he posted a request for one as a project on DonorsChoose.org. And now, thanks to donations from donors who include Someone Who Cares and the Student Research Foundation, Mr. Strein and his students have a new fridge for their store – and they are up and running.

Thanks from Mr. Strein

Dear Student Research Foundation,

I am so excited to have guardian angels supporting business education. Each one of you have a heart of gold. Your generosity has encouraged the students to work, earn money and donate to those that need it more. You have become an inspiration to each student. I assure you, your contributions to our program will never be forgotten. Thank you so much.

With gratitude,
Mr. Strein

We are excited to hear about how many of these students decide to pursue careers or college degrees in business and entrepreneurial related fields due to the skills and career interests they learned running their store.

We look forward to writing about additional DonorsChoose.org teacher projects here on the Student Research Foundation blog. Stay tuned!

We invite all students to explore their career options by participating in our career and college studies. Students who complete the free career test for high school students will receive information on college and career opportunities which match their interests.