PTA –hosted Carnival provides students with an opportunity to experience doing business

On May 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the middle high school concrete area was alive with commotion from the school’s annual PTA-organized Carnival. Three rows of stalls were bustling with activity as people searched for items of interest.

The majority of the stalls were set up by students and their families. To obtain a stall, students had to pay 60 RMB and were then given a parasol. They were free to sell pretty much whatever was possible in that limited amount of space provided- second hand goods, homemade food, games, and creative crafts. This year, many of the stores sold second-handed goods, mainly toys and books. Some sold food such as homemade green bean soup and curry fish ball, a few sold creative crafts such as artistic pottery, calligraphy, and custom-made slime, and others offered games. This experience was mostly intended to train students’ marketing, management, and teamwork skills, as they were encouraged to decorate their stall in a creative way to attract the attention of potential customers and were given the chance to practice organizing their products and managing the money earned. Some kids also shouted out the discount deals available at their stall to attract people. In other words, participating in the Carnival and manning a stall gave students a taste of what doing business and earning profit would be like.

There were also a smaller section of the stalls which promoted products from some parents’ companies. These stalls demanded a 350 RMB rental fee for each. Some companies were the Dream Art Center and Double Dance Studio.

Finally, the least amount of stalls were occupied by outside vendors such as Young Dental Care, MSA, Batto Force, and DDC Education. Overall, the Carnival provided a meaningful learning experience for the student stall managers while offering visitors an unique, lively experience. Compared to previous years, however, the quality and creativity of student-manned stalls was lacking this year, as there were more stalls selling second-hand goods and less innovative and homemade products.

Featured Image – Students man the Carnival stalls – Image Courtesy of Gracier Dai

By Gracier Dai