By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Michael Lail, 7 (from left); M'wandishi Borach, 11; and Amber Batchelor, 8, wait on Urban League bake sale customers to promote computer literacy. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati is teaching a group of South Avondale Elementary students how to be their own boss and give from the heart this Valentine's Day.

The 15 students, ages 7-12, are enrolled in the Urban League's "Power Up" after-school program. The computer tutorial program, which is in its third year, teaches children basic skills such as how to navigate the Internet and use computer software.

Loucresha Jones, the program's facilitator, said she decided to expand the program this year to include lessons about how to use computers to help start your own business.

"It's like the Bible proverb says, `If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. But if you teach a man how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime,' " Jones said.

Jones said the "Power Up" class quickly decided it wanted to start a corporation named "Kids Company" that specialized in the sale of Valentine's Day candy, cookies, cakes and other baked goods. The students voted to have a bake sale from which they hoped to raise $100 and donate 10 percent of the proceeds to charity.

The students began on Monday by electing a president, vice president and treasurer for their company. By Tuesday, they had produced dozens of fliers promoting their bake sale and were in the process of developing a product catalogue to showcase their baked goods.

The class spent the rest of the week passing out bake sale fliers to the 40-plus employees at the Urban League. Some of the students even dressed up as human billboards to advertise to people on the street who passed by the Urban League's Reading Road offices.

"This program teaches the kids decision-making, goal-making, advertising and public relations skills," said Brandi Branch, Power Up coordinator. "It's fun for the kids and educational at the same time."

When asked what she like best about the "Power Up" program, eight-year-old Chandra Thomas said, "I get to be president of Kids Company. I'm the boss and I get to bang that (gavel) and tell people to be quiet."

Arnisha and Arthur Crumpley, 7-year-old twins, said they enjoyed learning to surf Web sites such as Barbie.com and Disney.com.

"Kids Company's bake sale Thursday at the Urban League opened to a good-sized crowd. Receipts had yet to be tallied.

"We don't know which charity yet," said Anthony Moore, 11. "So it is kind of iffy right now."

"Power Up," one of the programs offered by the Urban League to empower youth, runs Monday through Thursday from 2-4 p.m. throughout the school year.

Jones said she hopes to expand the program to teens in the future and incorporate other skills such as accounting.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com