COOPER CITY ELEMENTARY

Class lesson also teaches social responsibility

STUDENTS LEARN SOME MATH, SOME HISTORY, SOME BUSINESS AND A LITTLE ABOUT DOING GOOD

Special to The Miami Herald

BY JULIE LEVIN

With a pound of dedication and a pinch of fun, Mary Goldberg's class at Cooper City Elementary School learned a lesson about giving back.

The fourth-graders baked and sold several thousand paw-shaped doggie biscuits at an April 25 school event, then planned to turn the proceeds over to the Humane Society of Broward County.

''It will help the Humane Society feed them, and give them their shots and pills that they need,'' student Megan Tompkins said of the animals.

At $5 a bag, the class hoped to raise $800 for the animal-care facility.

''It made me feel kind of grown up. Fourth-graders don't usually cook and bake,'' said Gabriela Sordo, 10.

The project was part of class study of the Iditarod, the 1,150-mile dog sled race across Alaska. They learned the history of the race and used math to figure out what fraction of it had been completed.

Using computers, they tracked their favorite competitors.

''It was kind of fun because we researched to see where our mushers were,'' said Troy Smith, 10.

The final part of the lesson was to create a class business where they could make and package dog biscuits.

''I thought it would be a really good hands-on project for the entrepreneurs of our future,'' said Goldberg, of Cooper City, who teaches the gifted program.

But before they could bake, the students had to research the basics. They learned about the different parts of a business and talked about costs, advertising, production and how to price their products.

Backed by a team of parent volunteers, they began creating their product. They spent several days mixing a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flours, oatmeal, sugar, shortening, yellow cornmeal, beef bouillon and water.

''We had to roll the dough and you really had to put your strength into it,'' said Kian Memari, 10.

They cut out thousands of the biscuits using paw-shaped cutters and decorated little bags with their slogan ``Paws for a Cause.''

It was every bit a class project, which presented its own challenges.

Goldberg hopes to turn the biscuit business into a yearly event.

She wants the kids to learn not only about problem-solving and how to work together, but also about the responsibility to their community. 'Hopefully, they will get it into their hearts,' she said.