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Show ; - '- i . x - ' tU i - - ' . """"""" " ' ! i ; y ; , ". " " 1 Students in the entrepreneurism class at Escalante High School prepare jellies for their "Moqui' jelly project developed to take advantage of locally produced natural and domestic fruits. Products are being offered for sale at ball games and student developers hope their idea may be taken over as a local small industry for enterprising private investors. EHS Students Step Out As Entrepreneurs With 'Moqui' Jelly Products ESCALANTE Entrepreneurism Entrepreneur-ism is flourishing at Escalante High School where 16 students are putting into practice what they have been learning about small business and industry through a special new program in their home economics department Just after Thanksgiving the students began marketing their "Moqui" products, some 500 jars sporting their specially designed label offering such unique and tempting jellies as Cactus, Apple-Cactus, Apple-Cactus, Peach-Cactus, Plum, Grape, Raspberry, Elderberry, Lemon-Pineapple, and others. "With a new teacher not really familiar with traditional curriculum and a class composed of 16 young men, adaptation occurred all the way around," says teacher Sharol Bernardo. Earlier in the year she proposed to Principal Myron Cottam and to Vocational Director Leon Stewart an entrepreneurism class capitalizing capital-izing on local natural and domestic fruit crops. With the suggestion not only approved, but enthusiastically enthus-iastically supported by local school officials and by the Utah State Department of Education, students and teacher began their project. They first developed a business plan, including a statement of goals, the formation of a business outline, a financial study, and a marketing plan. Co-operative efforts from a state business guide, advice from directors and a session for the students by local First Security bank manager Marlene s Stowe added to the plan. Once the outline was developed and "sold" to the school system, the hard work began. Students, teacher, principal and some local contributors contri-butors began to harvest the varied fruits. Local hills near the school abounded in prickly pear cactus fruit which a BLM permit allowed them to pick. During class sessions, students were taken to the fields to gather their prickly product with the use of tongs. They then returned to the home ec room to clean, de-thorn and juice the fruit. On their own time, some students also went to the mountains to gather elderberries. These were also cleaned and juiced. Local gardens and orchards provided such fruits as pears, peaches, apples, grapes and berries. All fruits were carefully prepared into juices which were then frozen until all other aspects of the process were ready. Containers were ordered as were professionally designed labels. Students practiced the jellying process with common fruits until they became master jelly-makers. The students then carefully cleaned, sterilized and labeled each jar before filling. They will make small wooden crates in their shop class to do a fancy-pack. Their products are being sold at home ball games and at the Desert Wolf Gallery in Escalante. Future plans include a marketing program throughout Garfield County and (See EHS Students Are Jelly Entrepreneurs Entre-preneurs on Page 5A) EHS Students Make Jelly As Entrepreneurs From Page 1 hopes of a private business assuming assum-ing the continuation of this idea as a means of economic development. Garfield County lacks permanent small industry to provide jobs for students as they graduate from high school and many young families have to leave the county to seek employment elsewhere because none is available locally. Students at Escalante High School with their jelly-making project and at Bryce Valley High School where a bottled spring water project is also underway under-way may be providing the much needed answer to their own futures. Students in the EHS class include Lucus Catmull, Drew Coombs Ryan Cottam, Bret Fullmer, Jessie Griffin, Neal Griffin, Troy Lyman, Doug Olscn, Shawn Mitchell, Dayne Reynolds, Jared Smith, David Rollins, Andy Van Quill, Zak Wilson, Eric Wolfe and Jason Pratt |
