By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Three businesses sprouted up at Niles High School Monday.
Is it a sign of improving economic times? Not quite.
Students in Dave Janicki's three economics classes are learning the ins and outs of running a business through a class project.
The project is designed to teach the students economic concepts in a hands on environment, rather than through class lectures, which prove less effective, Janicki said.
Janicki said it's tough to teach economics to students because most students don't find it interesting. He hopes this project will get them excited and in the process, help them learn new concepts.
The students began selling their wares during lunch hours Monday and will be selling throughout the week and at the football game Friday night.
Before the three businesses could open shop on Monday, Janicki began planning with his students about two weeks ago when the project first started.
Janicki and the students determined their target audience, the student body of the high school. After figuring out who they were selling to, the classes needed a product students liked and could afford, Janicki said.
The three classes are each selling different products, one is selling chocolate kisses, another is selling wristbands, and the last class is selling cotton candy.
While the goal of each business is to make a profit, the real goal is for the students to learn how to run a business and learn economic concepts.
After establishing a business plan, each class elected officers for their company and divided into sales and marketing groups.
Janicki said the division of the class into different groups allowed everyone a chance to participate.
As part of the project, the elected officers of each business went to local banks to talk about getting a loan to start a business, although they didn't take loans out for their class businesses.
Hendricks, a 15-year-old sophomore, is the treasurer for the third block class, who has to take care of all the business paper work.
Hendricks said the class business is a lot different from the lawn mowing business he operates during the summer.
So what role does Janicki serve in the students' businesses.
Students come to Janicki with ideas for the business and he helps them analyze how those ideas would affect their business.
Janicki hopes this experience lets students learn through trial and error, so they make mistakes now when the stakes are low, rather than later when it could mean their whole business.