“Lemonade Day” is a free, annual community-wide event dedicated to teaching children how to start, own and operate their own business through the simple and time-honored act of running a lemonade stand, according to Claire McCoy, studio educator for the Marshall Early Education STEM Center.
“Teaching the youth about the ‘ins and outs’ of business allows for more hands-on opportunities and a deeper engagement,” McCoy said. “For the children in our program, allowing them to be part of the learning experience – choosing their product, coming up with their own recipe, advertisement and research – we have seen such a growth in their mindset and capabilities. They provide reasoning and purpose behind their ideas shared.”
McCoy said not only will the event introduce these children to entrepreneurship through real-world experience, but it would provide an opportunity for each child to interact with college students.
Dr. Nancy Lankton, associate professor of accounting in the Lewis College of Business, said graduate students from the college helped the children complete their advertisement by fostering their creativity.
“This is our second year working with young children from the community in their Lemonade Day efforts and we look forward to working with them again in the future,” Lankton said.
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Photos: (Above) Two young children are shown painting their hand-crafted lemonade stand which will be used to sell their product during “Lemonade Day” April 14 on Marshall’s Huntington campus. (Below) Children ages 3-5 from the Marshall University Early Education STEM Center have been working for weeks to prepare for “Lemonade Day” April 14. They will sell lemonade from 10-11:30 a.m. by the fountain in the Memorial Student Center to raise money for the center.