Nixa JEEPstudents sell products The Attic Article and photos by Nicole Roberts for the Headliner News The students circled around a rectangular table, creating a production line. All 10 students had a vital job: One poured fl our, another added brown sugar while two students scooped chocolate chips. The jars went down the line, fi lling up as ingredients were added. When the jars reached the end, gold-colored lids and colorful cloths were added. The chocolate chip cookie jars were ready to be sold to the community. The Nixa Junior Eagles Entrepreneurial Program — known as JEEP — is part of the Nixa Junior High School special education class and partners with The Attic to sell jarred goods throughout the year. These products range from desserts like cookies and brownies to fi ve-bean soup. The idea started after Jessica Chappell and Kelsey Burkett, NJHS high-needs special education teachers, attended a professional development workshop earlier this year. They learned that schools can have trouble getting students involved with the community. Chappell and Burkett wanted their students to learn realworld skills, so they reached out to Holly Hartmann, owner of The Attic, for help. After Hartmann agreed to sell the products, the students decided what to make. Burkett said the students looked at do-it-yourself websites and Pinterest for ideas. So far, the students have made cookies, brownies, bunny pancakes and more. They hope to make candles and lotions in the future. Cooking can be complicated, which is why the teachers had to break down the skills. The students learned how to measure, level, read recipes and follow the entire cooking process. Burkett said even though the process can be long and hard, students can be proud of the end result. “We’re creating a project, a fi nal product that they can kind of say ‘OK, this is where our learning is taking us. I couldn’t do this at the beginning of the year, but now we’re making bunny pancakes all by ourselves,’” Burkett said. “That’s the strongest thing they’ve gotten out of this, because when they were making it, I said, ‘You guys did this all by yourselves,’ and they felt proud to know that they could do that.” Cooking isn’t the only skill the students are learning. Hartmann said this program was benefi cial because it’s teaching students real-world skills. “They are learning to work together for a common goal, and I believe that they’re learning a skill that they can put forward after they are done with school,” Hartmann said. “They need to be able to excel after they get out of school, and this is just a wonderful opportunity for them to be introduced to the business world.” Hartmann’s daughter, Hayle, is a former student of Chappell’s, and Hartmann said she wishes her daughter could have participated in a program like this. Burkett said teaching cooking skills also eases her mind, because if something were to happen and the students had to cook for themselves, they would know how to make different foods. “What makes me proud is that they are one step closer to being self-suffi cient and being able to live independently,” she said. The students are not creating these products just for the skills, though. “I like to do this stuff with my friends,” student India Humes said after pouring fl our into the cookie jars. In the future, the students will be able to do more than just make the products; they will take their products to the store, stock the shelves and take inventory. They will also decide how to use the money, which could be for new products or community-outreach trips. Chappell said all students have the potential to contribute to their community and hoped the program inspires other students to fi nd new ways to get involved and “have a purpose that’s meaningful.” She and Burkett also hope it inspires the community. “I hope (the community) gets a little glimpse of kind of what their lives are like, and how it’s a struggle to learn these simple things, but it can be really rewarding to just learn simple things and to be able to say that, ‘This is my product that I made, and somebody wants it enough to pay money for it,’” Burkett said. “It may be simple to some people, but this is a really proud moment for them, that they get to share this.” The students’ products are on a shelf by the front counter of The Attic, located at 404 S. Massey Blvd., Nixa. 20 THE NEST NIXA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAGAZINE Summer 2017
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