The cafeteria was buzzing with excitement the morning of Wednesday, May 20, as the Economics Fair set up shop. Each senior in an Economics class was challenged to sell a homemade product to their fellow class mates, giving them an opportunity to showcase what they’d learned over the semester.

Students used money to buy tickets, which were then used to buy the student-made merchandise. Products and services ranged anywhere from spicy salsa to having a picture taken with a cut-out of President Obama.

“We decided to make painted canvases for people to put in their college dorms,” senior Kelli Mosher said. “We thought a lot of girls would like this idea.”

Eco Fair serves as a summary of the entire semester of Economics, according to Economics teacher Loren Lizmi. The Fair is a great way for students to practice the information they have learned in their Economics and Government classes. They must put into practice what they have learned over the course about market structures, supply and demand, cost and production, and setting prices.

“I learned that if you do want to make sales, the best way to do that is to appeal to customers,” senior Miqdad Bhuriwala said. “Advertising plays a huge role.”

Students were given the incentive to make a profit from selling their products. If students wanted to receive money back for their projects, they had to save their receipts from supplies they bought, record all of the sales, and fill out other forms—a method reminiscent of real-world economics.

“In order to get reimbursed for the money you spent on the product, there’s a long process you have to go through that deals with tax forms, just like in real-world business deals,” senior Danielle Mattern said.

Although this project is a challenging way for the students to fully understand how business and economics work, it is an event that all seniors look forward to each year.

“Economics is already a difficult course,” Lizmi said. “There’s not a whole lot of fun involved in it but this gives them something to look forward to. The first question every semester is ‘When is Eco Fair?'”

The students were also required to make a video advertising their product or service. Often times the videos are well put together but also have a silly side to them, allowing the students to have fun and prove what they have learned this year.

“My favorite part about Eco Fair is getting to see the kids’ creativity,” Lizmi said. “We don’t get to see that a lot in Economics, there’s not a lot of opportunity for creative drawing or coming up with fresh new ideas, so when we get to see it, it’s a lot of fun.”