Student Entrepreneurs Shine in Timpview High’s Market Days

January 5th, 2024 /
Spencer Tuinei /
CTE, News, Schools, Secondary Schools, Timpview High

There’s a buzz about campus; goodies of all types are coming, and they’re coming from some entrepreneurial students as part of Timpview High School’s Market Days.

Market Days is an event led by Timpview High School Teacher Scott Johnson’s Entrepreneurship. Students host vendor stalls for businesses they’ve drafted and designed business plans for in Johnson’s class.

During our visit, students donned freshly minted hoodies, beanies, and thrift clothes and chowed down on fried nuggets, frosted treats, and more from the goods produced by Johnson’s students.

There’s more behind each stall than the retail item, however. Students had to take hobbies, interests, and ideas and turn them into reality. It required a business plan and the number-crunching that goes along with it.

“I had to tackle cost analysis,” said Hannah, a student hosting her own kawaii-cat-themed street clothing and apparel line. Keeping track of smaller items like keychains and stickers took a lot of work, she explained. After calculating the costs of goods sold, she would need to find a way to lower costs for making smaller items, which would require cheaper items for materials. Lower costs, greater profit. It’s the sort of industry work that professionals do each day. Students in Johnson’s class are doing it, too.

Despite the challenge, students stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. Many students took the opportunity to try out a new venture they’d brainstormed and built during class, but some students’ projects were passion projects, months to years in the making.

“I’ve always loved drawing. So, I started with random designs I made before I started my class,” shared Hannah. “I worked through my plan during Invest Nest—I didn’t win, but I used it to start working on a serious business plan. I want to do this in the future.”

The Market Days Event is many things. It’s a fun way for students to test their classroom knowledge through a serious, self-led project, with a bit of money on the line for their efforts. But, just as importantly, it’s a stepping stone for our future leaders: for some, this is the first step; for others, it’s just the middle of the road.

Thank you to Scott Johnson and fellow business teachers in our district for instilling business acumen, a love for learning, and creating spaces for students to try new things. We look forward to the next Market Days event.