A cool way to help students, the community
Aiden Padilla, left, hands a cup of lemonade to one of the many customers to visit the “Minds at Work” lemonade stand Tuesday morning at VIBES Fitness. The third-graders in the program did the planning and work, and will donate proceeds to Transitional Housing of Steele County. The stand is open from 9-11 a.m. Wednesday morning, and will be at Downtown Thursdays if the weather cooperates. Staff photo by Kay Fate
It’s hot out, isn’t it? Humid, too – and Wednesday is going to be more of the same.
A cold glass of lemonade and a lesson in humanity might make the day a little better.
“They were so excited to get here today and get it set up, and every time someone comes, they’re yelling, ‘another customer! Another customer!’ It’s been fun,” said Tiffany Walerius of the lemonade stand she was overseeing Tuesday morning.
She and Lauren Isaacson are the teachers of a summer school program called “Minds at Work.”
Two dozen students who just completed third grade at Owatonna elementary schools attend the program for an extra boost in reading and math.
Putting a real-life spin on classroom activities is one way Walerius and Isaacson are emphasizing the work the kids are doing, and what better way than a lemonade stand on a hot summer day?
Four local non-profits visited the classroom on the second day of school to explain their program, and the students selected which would receive the profits from their lemonade sales.
“Hearing about the needs of the community and how to be an active member of our society, and to give to others” was a bonus lesson to the math and reading, Walerius said.
They set up shop Tuesday morning, and had a pretty steady stream of customers.
There’s no financial goal, but last year’s stand brought in about $1,000 for Community Pathways “because people just donated more” than the asking price, she said.
This year’s proceeds will go to Transitional Housing of Steele County.
The stand will be open again Wednesday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. at VIBES Fitness, 1400 S. Oak Ave., “and as long as the weather holds out, we’re going to be at Downtown Thursday this year,” Walerius said.
If You Go:
What: Lemonade Stand
Who: Minds at Work summer school students
When: 9-11 a.m. Wednesday; at Downtown Thursday, weather permitting
Where: VIBES Fitness, 1400 S. Oak Ave., Owatonna
Why: Donation to Transitional Housing of Steele County