Bank of Nevada Volunteers Assist Students During Green Our Planet’s GIANT Student Farmer’s Market

More than 600 Clark County School District students transformed into small business entrepreneurs - often referred to as “Farmpreneurs” - during the recent Green Our Planet GIANT Student Farmer's Market.

A total of 60 schools staffed a booth at the market, each selling fruits and vegetables grown by students in their school garden. To expand their sales opportunities, students also created a wide range of consumer products - candles, refrigerator magnets, seedlings, coasters, salt scrubs and bee houses - to sell at the one-day, semi-annual market. Students were assisted by 64 Bank of Nevada volunteers who helped with financial transactions, offering marketing advice and selling tips.

Green Our Planet launched its Outdoor Garden Classroom STEM Program in Las Vegas in 2013. It is the country's largest school gardens program, offering outdoor and hydroponic garden programs in several states. Several years ago, Bank of Nevada worked with Green Our Planet to incorporate financial literacy lessons into the STEM curriculum accompanying each school garden. As a result, before each farmer's market students create a business plan and estimate their costs and potential profit on the products they sell.

"The school garden program combined with the farmer's market and financial literacy lessons give students the hands-on experience of being a small business," said Jerrie E. Merritt, community development manager, Bank of Nevada."This is such an engaging program for students genuinely excited about creating their products and selling them to the public. We are planting the seeds of future business owners."

The students have taken their small business opportunity to heart. According to Green Our Planet, students at the 2023 Spring farmer's market doubled their income from last year's market, raising $21,700 among all attending schools. Every school keeps the funds it earned to support and expand its school garden program.