BY MICHELLE MILLER
STAFF WRITER

It was all business at the Cooperstown Middle/High School on Saturday.

As part of an innovative after-school educational program for youth called TREP$, students developed their own products or services that were sold at a marketplace from 10 a.m. to noon at the middle/high school cafeteria.

The school’s Parent Teacher Organization offered the program to students in grades six through eight for the first time this year.

``Wow,’’ was the only word program chair Carina Franck could come up with to describe the success of the marketplace to the students during the final workshop held Monday afternoon.

``I was really blown away when seeing what the kids had come up with,’’ said Franck. ``There was such a great diversity of products.’’

According to workshop facilitator Rebecca Stone, there were 26 businesses represented at the marketplace.

She said, as of Monday, she had data on 21 of the 26 businesses that showed there was a total of $800 in expenses with $2,625 in revenue for a profit of $1,825.

Many of the students donated all or a portion of their profits to organizations. For example, Jacob Russell, who made cloth bags out of old clothing donated $200 of his profits to the Susquehanna SPCA.

Other students donated to Haiti relief efforts.

Franck said some people told her they thought the marketplace was run better than any adult flea market. Although she was impressed and pleased to hear that, she said there is always room for improvement.

Franck said the cafeteria was a little cramped, so she would like to see if the marketplace could be moved to the gymnasium next year.

Franck said she would also like to give students some time to look around and shop before opening the marketplace up to the public. Most of the students didn’t even get the chance to see what other students had created, said Franck.

Stone said things could have been a little more organized, but it was a learning experience. It might be a good idea to have the flow of traffic all headed in the same direction while people browse at items in the future, she said.

Student Anna Greene said she felt rushed when setting up. She said she also felt some entrepreneurs had an advantage over others because of where their tables were located.

Anna suggested that the marketplace be kept open longer. She said she did not feel two hours was much time for shopping.

The biggest thing we need to do is maintain the diversity of products available to customers each year, said Franck. We do not want it to turn into one big bake sale or something like that, she said.

This year’s marketplace had a wide variety of items, including items made of duct tape, homemade ice cream, picture frames, photos, earrings, animal treats, wooden birdhouses and a variety of food items.

Stone said the group selling wooden birdhouses sold out before the end of the marketplace. Student Scott Curtis said he had a hard time keeping up with his Like Grandma Made It homemade ice cream business. Several students said they had the same problem and wished they started making products earlier.

Stone told the students that the goal was not to be able to retire off the profits earned. She said the hope was to get them interested in being their own entrepreneurs. No matter how well the students did, they all learned something and that is what matters, said Stone.

Franck asked the students if they thought having the marketplace in conjunction with the Cooperstown Winter Carnival was an advantage or disadvantage, most said they thought it was an advantage because people were already out and about and they received free advertisement. However, some students suggested having it at a different time during the carnival weekend because they felt the marketplace ran against a lot of popular activities. PumpkinFest, The Cooperstown Relay for Life and Hartwick Days were also suggested as possible events that would work well as collaborations.

Anna Greene said she thought many of the items would make good gifts. Why not have a Christmas sale? she asked.

Stone said some students did target their products around Valentines Day this year.

These students are an amazing group of kids, she said. Perhaps next year they can serve as mentors for next year’s group she said.

According to Franck, students who participated in this year’s program will already have a product and will be able to register for the marketplace without having to go to the workshops. They can participate in some or all workshops if they want, but it is not required, she said.

TREP$ was created by Pamela deWaal and Hayley Romano, two certified teachers who reside in West Milford, N.J.

The program began when their then 10-year-old sons decided to go into business together selling hand stamped wrapping paper at an adult vendor night at the school. The boys sold out of their product and shared their success story with their peers.