Trees across Cincinnati are looking fuller this year thanks to EBL’s third grade students, who can now add “ornament maker” to their resumes.

It all began in the grade’s social studies unit on economics, where students learn fundamental concepts about the inner workings of a successful economy. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Third Grade Teacher Jon Paris and his colleagues saw an opportunity to make the lessons more dynamic and created a unique project.

“We thought it would be fun and educational for the students to see firsthand how an economy works, taking into consideration supply and demand, quality control, production costs, and profit margins,” says Paris. “We started talking with the entire third grade in early October about the project and brainstormed some ideas that might work. The students voted on the exact project and immediately got busy designing an order form.”

That project? Producing and selling Christmas ornaments to EBL families. But the profits would not be for third grade gain. Instead, every dollar raised would be sent to Jawabu Christian Academy, a Christian school in Kenya in desperate need of books to fill library shelves. As third grade students have been participating in a year-long book drive to support the school, it seemed a natural fit to bless Jawabu Christian Academy even more through the ornament sale.

Once the project was approved, third graders got to work designing two ornaments: a commemorative 2023 CHCA snowflake—made in EBL’s computer lab on the 3D printer—and a candy cane. “The students were organized into assembly lines in the classrooms and learned how factories work,” says Paris. “We had students who were putting the ornaments together, managing, gluing glitter snow, conducting quality control, and even making thank-you cards.”

Their efforts paid off. At the outset of the project, Paris and team projected the students would sell around 200 ornaments. By the project’s end, students had produced and sold 500 ornaments, more than doubling their initial goal and raising over $1,000 for Jawabu Christian Academy.

While an increase in demand was certainly a welcome surprise, it did present a challenge that reinforced the importance of adaptability in a thriving business. “We soon learned that we did not order enough beads for the candy cane ornament as we did not expect such a huge demand. When we went to order more beads, we learned that, because of the Christmas season that we were currently in, the beads were backordered and would not be here in time to finish the ornaments by the end of the quarter,” says Paris. The crew pivoted, sourcing another supplier and moving back the delivery date to account for increased production time.

While a micro taste of the larger economy, the third grade ornament sale proved successful in more ways than one. “The students have been so charged about this project and have learned a lot about how an economy works and how difficult it can be to be successful in the marketplace,” says Paris. “We hope that the students not only learn more about how an effective economy should work and how this can apply to their lives today and in the future, but also how we can bless others who are not as fortunate as we are and how we can shine our light and be a beacon for Christ.”