Hillside Students raised over $900 for Relay for Life through authentic learning projects… here’s how!

Market Day is an annual tradition at Hillside in which students in grades 3-5 have the opportunity to work in small groups to create, market and sell a product to their peers. Family and business partners are invited to school and are able to “purchase” Husky Bucks so they can participate. The result? Hillside raised over $900 at Market Day. The halls were filled with such excitement and creativity with products such as pom-pom animals to fresh herb gardens to headbands and lots of slime being sold.

The Project Based Learning lessons began 3 months ago when students participated in the first-ever Hillside Shark Tank Expo. Groups of students presented their toy product prototypes to a panel of local business members. The panel listened to the presentation, asked questions and provided feedback to the student groups. Each group then received Husky Bucks, Hillside’s classroom economy system, based upon their product, prototype and presentation. The results were incredible and the students worked really hard at coming up with creative products. Students were then able to use their Husky Bucks to purchase booth rental and needed supplies for the upcoming Market Day at Hillside.

During this same time period, Hillside’s 0-3 Club, a support group for new teachers, identified Relay for Life as their charity for the year. The teachers worked throughout the year to raise money in creative ways to support this good cause. Hillside students wanted to contribute as well. Students set up a banking system and converted dollars into Husky Bucks for Market Day shopping, raising over $900 for Relay for Life.

In all, the 0-3 Club and Hillside 3rd -5th grade students raised over $3,000 for Relay for Life and all of the Hillside Huskies are so proud of their contribution. Project Based Learning was a big success this year and Hillside is looking forward to continuing to develop innovative and creative projects for next year.