Seventh-graders in the Penn Central Middle School gifted support program begin the year asking when they can start their microloan projects.  

“They can’t wait,” gifted support program teacher Kristen Swanson said.  

Beginning in November, seventh-graders made a variety of products to sell, from Laura Frederick’s chocolate candy-covered pretzels to Hayden Sandt and Andrew Shaqfeh’s parachute cord necklaces, raising a combined total of $1,296.42 to donate to the charity of their choice.  

“I’m really amazed every year when I see how much money they make and in such a short time, Swanson said.  

Now in its third year, the microloan program began after Swanson heard 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus speak about his concept of offering small loans to impoverished people who did not have sufficient credit to qualify for a loan.  

Penn Central Middle School Principal Dr. Thomas Rutter decided to offer a microloan program to gifted seventh-graders with the help of a grant from First Savings Bank of Perkasie. The $1,000 grant, which is split between Penn Central and Penn North middle schools, is paid back from the students’ projects so that funds are available to loan to the following year’s class, according to a Dec. 24, 2010, News-Herald article.  

Swanson, who lived in Africa for 10 years, uses the project to raise her students’ awareness of world issues like malaria, AIDS and the lack of clean drinking water. But the project also serves another purpose, helping the students cultivate business skills as they prepare project proposals, advertise their products and work to pay back their loans.  

“We need entrepreneurs and we don’t talk about it much in school,” Swanson said.  

Students presented their proposals to Todd Hurley and Kevin Crawford of First Savings prior to receiving their loans. Meeting with the bankers, who arrived at the school dressed in suits, was intimidating for the students, said Tina Loose, a Penn Central parent and volunteer.  

“We coached them on how to introduce themselves and shake hands with the bankers,” Loose said.  

The students prepared a prototype of their product, explained their costs and outlined their business strategy, including where they planned to sell their products, student Omar Ibrahim said.
Sometimes the proposals needed some tweaking before the loans were approved.  

“Our earrings were originally lower priced than they should have been,” said Kennedy Peace, who along with Casey Barnes, crafted handmade earrings and lip gloss. The students raised the price for their jewelry since each pair took 45 minutes to make.  

Although students worked on making their products during a few class periods, the bulk of the labor was done on their own time. Each team of students spread the word about their products by creating posters or giving an advertisement on the school’s morning announcement program.  

“We found some stars,” Swanson said of the students’ advertising efforts.  

Students took advantage of the holiday shopping season as they sold their items to family members, neighbors and guests at school events like the winter concert at Penn Central. Some customers gave more than the purchase price.  

“Sometimes people would just throw money at us,” Ibrahim said.  

“Parents were definitely in a giving mood at the winter concert,” Loose agreed.  

All of the students were able to fully pay back their loans, with an average profit margin of 81 percent. Total combined expenses for the microloan projects came to $300, according to Loose.  

Although Barnes said that she is “kind of relieved” that the stress of balancing schoolwork and the microloan project is over, the students were enthusiastic about the results of their endeavor.  

Front Row: Kennedy Peace, Faith Altomare, Piper Zimmerman, Dylan Baker, Omar Ibrahim, Tara Petrosky Back Row: Selene Cullen, Casey Barnes, Paul Senoi, Max Haughin, Nathan Runk, Ryan Cuthbert, Mrs. Kristen Swanson

With the proceeds from her pretzel sales, Frederick is giving three microloans of $25 each to entrepreneurs in other countries through Kiva, an online lending platform. Frederick expressed appreciation for the personal nature of giving to help individuals rather than to a large organization.  

Elle Kerrigan, Sophia Handy and Sarina Lawless’ cake pop sales will help other girls their age receive an education through Girl Up. The green Pennridge Christmas ornaments made by Karlie Shagen and Katie Fischer will benefit children with cleft palates through Operation Smile. Three teams donated to Water.org, which provides water purifiers and builds wells in villages lacking clean water, according to Ibrahim.  

“Here in the U.S. it’s very uncommon to wake up and not have water to bathe in,” Peace said.  

Global issues are made more relevant to the students by the fact that Swanson herself contracted malaria many times while she lived in Africa, Loose said.  

“It brings it home to them that this is real,” Loose said. “This is someone who’s been there.”