Mall Madness returns to DIS

Posted on: Feb 5, 2021

One of Delano Intermediate School’s signature events arrived a little later than normal this year, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of vocal vendors and opportunistic buyers in the annual Mall Madness activity.

Nineteen fourth-graders in the gifted and talented program finally had the chance to put their business skills to the test on Tuesday, Jan. 26, when they displayed their products to their grade-level peers in the school commons.

“It’s very exciting,” said Joanna Brouwer, who was presiding over a table of intricate board art squares. 

“It’s really fun to be able to make your own money and to come up with your own idea,” agreed Alexa Huotari, who had a few stables of Candy Cane Critters to offer. “It’s just been such a fun unit.”

Mall Madness takes students through the full gamut of business operations, from brainstorming a product, getting a loan and obtaining a business license to marketing, tracking expenses, determining prices, conducting sales and evaluating the outcome.

Gifted and Talented Coordinator Heidi O’Donnell said that while the sales should have taken place in December, learning model changes and uncertainty about when students might return to in-person learning pushed the event back.

“It was kind of a waiting game to see what would happen with our learning models. Students were concerned. I was concerned,” said O’Donnell. “Every week I met with them it was, ‘When are we going to have the store?’ I had to tell them that we would have it, but it might be a little different this year. We were prepared to do an online store if needed. We had to think of some alternatives just in case we weren’t able to do it in person.”

Fortunately, the Jan. 19 return to in-person learning for K-5 students presented an opportunity to move ahead with the event, even if the usual parent volunteers were absent and customer groups were limited to one class at a time to reduce crowding.

“Usually we like a little more madness in the Mall Madness unit, but it was pretty tame this year with having one group come in at a time,” said O’Donnell. “We shortened the times a little bit too, just to make sure everybody was safe.”

Smaller crowd or not, pencil stand merchant Theodore Stewart contributed to the carnival-like atmosphere with boisterous invitations for those entering the commons to “step right up” and find something they liked from his varied collection.

“I’ve enjoyed learning about making a business and how you can have consequences if it’s a bad product,” he said. “Nothing is a bad idea, it’s just a bad product. I have learned that some designs will sell better than others. You need to know your audience and who you are targeting.”

O’Donnell said the market-style setting prompted some students to go beyond posters and other static advertising to draw more attention to their goods. 

“Some of them were verbally announcing their products as well, riling up the crowd and trying to get business,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like this group is definitely competitive with one another. They were all curious about who made the most at the end of it, and I think they drove each other on to be successful. That’s really important for a group of kids like this, to feed off of each other in a positive way and in an academic way.”

One of the most popular stops in the mall was Wesley Engesser’s catapult booth. He credited his brother, who has watched videos about how to make similar projects, with helping him to manufacture 24 of the intricate machines from popsicle sticks and clothespins.

“I started out with 24 and now I’m down to three,” Engesser said, adding that the Mall Madness experience helped him learn about the logistics involved with creating a product and selling it. “I was worried I wasn’t going to sell as much as I did. But in fact I sold too much and I won’t have enough for the rest of the classes.”

O’Donnell said that participation and aid from family members was welcome in the students’ projects.

“It seemed like a lot of them had family involvement with it, which we said was definitely OK because a lot of businesses are family-owned and family-run, so we encouraged that aspect and they came up with some amazing things,” she said.

Students appreciated the authenticity of creating a commodity and receiving a cash payoff.

“I can’t believe that we’re actually making money for crafts and stuff, and everything is so cool,” said Rose Lahti, gesturing around at her classmates’ products. 

Lahti herself was selling “perfect prehistoric pins” featuring dinosaurs, volcanoes and more. 

“I’ve learned the importance of money and everything that goes with that, and how hard it is to sell in the real world,” she said.

Candle connoisseur Jacob Werth summed up the value of the experience from a student perspective.

“It’s kind of a peek into the world of marketing and sales. That’s kind of fun, because it’s not an opportunity you get very often.”

O’Donnell said that other schools have taken note of the event through Mall Madness social media posts, and may look to implement a similar project.

“I’ve gotten some inquiries and interest from other districts in recreating it. So it’s obviously something that is applicable for students and is something that other teachers and parents really feel are important skills for students to have as they go into adulthood,” she said. 

“This is something students remember too. Even if they didn’t participate in creating the product, the kids who purchase products remember the Mall as well. So it’s fun for everybody. This year was definitely a success. I’m really proud of the students, and I know that they’re proud of themselves too.”
 

Post Categories: Intermediate School