The next time you are in the halls of Morris School, take a moment to find their vending machine and drop a few coins in the slot.
In return, you’ll get a kid’s preferred snack and become part of the middle years student challenge.
While on maternity leave, Gr. 5/6 teacher Jenna Skoglund pondered the thought of how to challenge her students.
Using her own money, she purchased a vending machine and had her husband and father move it to the basement of the school while she developed a plan.
“I thought it was such a good idea, so I invested in the project,” says Skoglund. “It was a lot of work doing the research.”
The cost of the machine and ongoing maintenance were issues that needed to be addressed, but the first real hurdle before the curled wires of the machine could release treats to student was the approval to have it in the school.
Prepared with her research, Skoglund pitched her grand plan to her principal: middle years students would operate the vending machine, taking on the responsibility of selecting and ordering products, figuring out pricing, doing the bookkeeping, and keeping the machine stocked.
One final responsibility in the challenge would be the decision making on what to do with the profits.
Skoglund arranged for local business owner Pat Schmitke to visit the school and talk to the students about running a vending machine. The Morris Bigway store now stocks Twinkies.
“We purchase most products from Bigway to stock the machine. Twinkies are a big seller,” shares Skoglund.
“I spoke to some local businesses and they commented that it would be a lot of work. The big thing was repairs. They could be costly,” she says. “The machine cost $650. The students challenge has already repaid that debt. The challenge has used some profits to provide teachers with a pizza supper during parent-teacher night.”
Skoglund assigned the responsibilities of operating the vending machine to a group of students that includes 12-year-old Addison Hamblin.
“I enjoy having something to do,” the Gr. 7 student shares. “I mostly look after the machine. Schoolwork comes first. I might have to give up doing something to go stock the machine. I get some help from other students, but it is mostly me.”
Hamblin confesses she doesn’t like to sit around.
“I like to read, but I’d rather be doing something, especially learning new stuff.”
A new bank account for the vending machine gave her the opportunity to fill out her very first deposit slip.
“I really enjoy learning stuff that will be helpful in life,” says Hamblin, who notes she’s also developing time management skills with this project. “As I did the work, it became a lot bigger. Sometimes I can’t do what I want because the machine needs to be stocked. That is why some kids don’t want to work on it. It can take time away from doing other things, but I do really enjoy it. I know I always have something I can do.”
This budding Morris entrepreneur gives mom and dad some of the credit for her focus.
Her favourite subject is math, she adds, and she has plans to become either a teacher or an optometrist when she grows up.
“I have really bad eyes. With so many visits to the eye doctor, I’ve learned how the eyes work and that interested me.”
