Waterloo students selling Snowman Soup for charity

Students at a Kitchener elementary school are selling Snowman Soup for a good cause.

Ms. Fatemizadeh’s Grade 6 class at Bridgeport Public School has been taking turns on the hot chocolate assembly line.

Proceeds from their efforts will go towards CTV Kitchener’s Toy Mountain campaign.

The goal was to raise $700 – which they already reached by Monday afternoon.

BUSINESS SKILLS

The students haven’t just been making Snowman Soup. They’re also involved in the administrative aspects of the fundraiser, learning both financial literacy and teamwork.

Aarav Verma, 11, shared his experience with the accounting job.

“Do not rip off your customers,” he explained. “Because they’re not going to buy stuff from you ever again and then you will probably be in loss and debt.”

Grade 6 students at Bridgeport Public School in Kitchener making "Snowman Soup." (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

Verma said it was hard when people would give a lot of small coins to count but the project was also fun and he’ll carry what he has learned into future jobs.

“If you have debt in your business, you can’t make profit,” Verma said.

Snowman Soup sells for $1.50 per bag which is more expensive than it has been in previous years.

“[Because of] inflation,” Verma explained. “Because of COVID, there’s been a lot of demand over supplies so it’s going up.”

LIFE LESSONS

Many of the students are proud at how quickly they’re able to push out orders.

“We’re faster than Amazon,” laughed student Elliot Rowell. “Like three or four hours.”

Ms. Fatemizadeh is not just their teacher, she also acts as their boss for this curriculum-based initiative.

“I tell them that our hands have to be clean. Our hair has to be tied back. Orders have to be exact.”

Grade 6 students at Bridgeport Public School in Kitchener making "Snowman Soup." (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

She said this is her favourite time of the year and she loves seeing how excited the students when making each order.

“They might forget how I taught them a math lesson or how I taught them social studies, but they’ll never forget Snowman Soup,” Ms. Fatemizadeh said.

The students also made posters for Snowman Soup and make daily announcements which teaches them about advertising and media.

As for what ingredients go into Snowman Soup – it’s top secret.

The class is accepting orders until Dec. 15.