By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

Teacher Tom Hardy buys candy from a student business, using student-designed money, as part of Mini-Society. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

BLUE ASH - Jared Kamrass sold $2,140 worth of candy, chips and pop on his third day in business in "Ossola Land." That was a slow day.

"Since we're one-of-a-kind, we make a lot more money," said the 11-year-old student from Blue Ash. "Our business is doing great."

Jared's fictitious business at Edwin H. Greene Intermediate School is part of the eighth annual "Mini-Society" program for sixth-graders. Mini-Society turns each sixth-grade class at Greene School into a democratic country two days a week for about four weeks in the last quarter.

"The kids love it," said teacher/coordinator Tom Hardy. "It's their favorite time of the school year."

Greene School is a grade 5-6 school of 886 students.

Through Mini-Society, sixth-graders learn first hand about economic concepts such as supply and demand, profit and loss and cost-benefit analysis. They vote on the name of their country, design their currency, buy space to set up their businesses and even pay taxes. Students can buy one-time licenses to operate their businesses.

MINI-SOCIETY

The Mini-Society instructional system is designed primarily for teaching entrepreneurship, economics and citizenship concepts to students ages 8-12. It was conceived by Dr. Marilyn Kourilsky in 1972, a professor at UCLA, and has been extensively tested over the years. Mini-Society has been implemented in schools in all 50 states. For information, go to Web site.

However, food vendors (one per country/classroom) must obtain their license weekly through an open bid process. Jared and his business partners won the food vendor license two consecutive weeks in "Ossola Land," teacher Kathy Ossola's class. Jared said sales were so good the first week, they decided to go for the license the second week "at all costs."

In Hardy's class, the operators of "Pen Palace" had no customers on May 21. Elizabeth Avery, 12, of Montgomery, had some theories why the homemade glitter and flower pens weren't selling.

"We've got competition (another pen shop next door)," she said. "And I think we've got to make better pens for a cheaper price to make people want to come."

Teachers at Greene School and Blue Ash Elementary, both in the Sycamore School District, trained for the Mini-Society program at the University of Cincinnati's Center for Economic Education.The program is supported by the National Council on Economic Education and is used by schools nationwide. Studies show that students who participate in Mini-Society retain economic concepts usually reserved for college sophomores.

"It's a self-organizing, experience-based approach to learning about economics, government, career options, consumer issues, and values clarification," Hardy said.

Students whose businesses have money left at the end of Mini-Society can bid for prizes put up for auction by teachers. The auction is June 6, the last day of school.

E-mail annag1129@cs.com