By Leslie Kilgore EBS STAFF
Students at Ophir Middle School are turning classrooms into storefronts this week as the school launches its first-ever Miner Market, a student-led entrepreneurial event designed to bring math to life through hands-on business experience.
The Miner Market, named by the middle school student council, will take place May 27-29, with students invited to attend and shop throughout the week. Students will create products and services, run their own businesses and use “Miner Money” currency while learning lessons in economics, financial literacy, marketing and mathematics.
The project is being led by teacher and student council advisor Joy Brooke, who said the idea grew from similar “math markets” she has organized in the past. Ahead of the market, EBS spoke with Brooke and a few of her students to learn about its vision and some of the projects they’re focusing on.
“I have done these math markets before and it not only keeps students engaged near the end of the year but also helps them apply mathematical skills learned throughout the year in real life, like running their own businesses,” Brooke said.
Participation in the market was optional, but students who chose to participate were required to complete a detailed application process that mirrored the steps involved in launching a real business. The application guided students through market research, pricing strategies, advertising plans, startup costs, inventory planning and post-market financial analysis.
Students were asked to create company names and logos, identify target audiences, survey classmates about product demand and calculate pricing strategies that would allow them to earn a profit. They also had to outline production plans, marketing campaigns and methods for tracking sales and inventory during the event.
“The entrepreneurial skills needed and the questions they had to answer to go through the process of applying to the Miner Market not only encouraged their understanding of math state standards but also the real-life application of how crucial math is in today’s world,” Brooke said.
The application also emphasized broader educational goals, including economics, budgeting, supply and demand, percentages, graphing and financial literacy. After the market concludes, students will calculate profits and expenses and create graphs, or visual data representations, which reflect the success of their businesses.
According to Brooke, the market was created in part to help students understand the practical value of mathematics.
“Oftentimes, students learning math don’t understand the value,” she said. “They make comments like, ‘How am I ever going to use this in real life?’ or ‘Why do I even need to learn this?’”
She said the Miner Market helps answer those questions by giving students direct experience applying math skills in meaningful ways.
“The concept of a math market or the Miner Market, in this case, is to allow students to experience math as not just something we learn in the classroom, but something they will use in everyday life,” Brooke said. “Whether as a consumer or even a business owner, math knowledge is essential. It also makes math fun.”
Brooke said making math engaging and purposeful is especially important at the middle school level.
“This is key in a time when not all students love middle school math,” she said. “Making math purposeful and joyful is important.”
Among the seventh graders participating in the market are Esme Blyth and Wylie Brunner, who are preparing to launch their own student business as part of the event. Like their classmates, Blyth and Brunner have worked through the application process, researched ideas, developed pricing strategies and prepared products for opening day.
“Wylie and I make our own slimes, with the company name of Tide and Texture. There are going to be two different slime types: crunchy and cloud,” Blythe said.
“Having very little experience in the slime making field myself, I found myself going over to Wylie’s house on Fridays to make slime with no idea what to do. After about 3 hours of making slimes, I am proud to say I made all of the cloud slime by myself,” Blythe continued. “We have put our hard work into making 60 regular slimes, which we will sell for the reasonable price of $5, and 12 smaller slimes, which will be only $2. We are so excited for the miner market to showcase all our hard work. We are also ready to give back to the ALS foundation in our community by donating 40% of our earnings.”
The event also places a strong emphasis on leadership and community service. Brooke said she initially approached Ophir’s math teacher, Rosie Sullivan, with the idea before bringing it to the student council so students themselves could help shape the event.
“When I approached our math teacher Mrs. Sullivan, she was very excited for this opportunity, but we both knew successful projects are best when led by students themselves,” Brooke said.
Student council members helped develop the market structure and decided that participating businesses would donate a minimum of 20% of their profits to charity. Students selected either the ALS-focused Soul Shine event in Big Sky or the Haven shelter in Bozeman as the nonprofit businesses to support.
“They really wanted to give back to our community and help in some way,” Brooke said.
In addition to growing young entrepreneurs and mathematicians, Brooke hopes the experience inspires students to become future community leaders.
“Hopefully, besides growing mathematicians and entrepreneurs, we can also grow students who want to give back and be leaders in their communities,” she said.
As students prepare their storefronts and products for opening day, organizers are already hopeful the Miner Market will be a success at Ophir Middle School.
“We hope the Miner Market becomes a tradition every year,” Brooke said.
