Market Day happens a few times a year at North, most recently at the end of October. Students in entrepreneurship classes set up their own small businesses and sell food and snacks at lunch.
Business teachers Matt Silverthorne and Jon Berseth organize and supervise Market Day. About 100 students participate every time. There were several different types of food sold, including Mexican food, German food, pizza and concession type foods. Silverthorne said, “Some students take pride in bringing in special foods or making a family recipe. Others just try to satisfy the market by making what everyone wants.”
Usually there are about 27-40 businesses a day. Sales have been up in the past few years and the overall profit is about $15,000.
“The hardest part of Market Day, for me, would probably be the day itself and having to oversee everything. But for the kids it would probably be either figuring out the money or the social interaction with the other students and the emotional investment they have to have to succeed, Silverthorne said.
Weather sometimes affects Market Day. It hasn’t in awhile, but in the past it has. Mr. Silverthorne said, “We used to sell inside and outside in the past but now we have too many students to do that. About four or five years ago we had a storm during Market Day and we moved inside and it was crazy – there wasn’t any room for anybody. So now if we have bad weather, we’ll just move market day to another time.
Silverthorne said, “My favorite part of Market Day would probably be the emotional connection the students make to their jobs. And I like seeing the students connect what they’re doing with what we’ve done in the classroom. Also, seeing them have satisfaction with their work and them knowing that it’s not just about the money, it’s about the pride they have when they succeed – or the humanity to admit when they fail.”