Every year at Parkveiw Elementary School, a small world can be discovered. This “Mini-Society” is complete with elected officials, a set of laws, and various businesses. The inhabitants of this city are not munchkins, but fourth graders at Parkveiw.

 The students prepare for mini-society by studying economics and government. Examples include supply and demand, scarcity, opportunity cost, advertising, profit, resources, democracy, and branches of government. In other words, they learn how our government and economy work.

 Fourth Grade Teacher Mrs. Limb said, “We create our own city, come up with jobs to run the city, and sell items we make.” Students first establish their city. Each fourth grade classroom was its own city. Then they name their city. Like most other things in Mini-Society, each student came up with a name, and the final name was voted on. Next, students voted on, and designed a flag. The students then designed their own currency, and as a class voted on their favorite one. 

 Now that the fourth graders had a city, they needed to make rules for it to function properly. “Another thing about Mini-Society is that the kids can pick which things can give them extra money,” said Mrs. Limb, “For example, they do a job, which gives them weekly pay, but they can also earn bonuses by doing such things as turning in homework, having a clean desk; anything that the class decides.” But no matter how neat the forth graders think that may have been, they faced another real world issue--fines. Students were fined for misbehaviors like talking in line or leaving their seat without permission. But the student government controled how much the bonuses were, and how much money could be fined.

 The city had several jobs it needed to function properly. The jobs included: mayor, police officers, treasurers, paymasters, judge, janitors, and money cutters. The students then decided the salaries for the jobs. The students had to campaign for their desired job. They put up posters and even gave their own speeches. After all the hard work, students voted on who gets what position.

 After being elected, students also needed to form businesses. They did this alone or with a partner. The business could not get started without a business license. The fourth graders had one to buy with the money they were given. After the students decide what they wanted to do with their business, they mad advertisements and set prices for their products.

 A week before Mini-SocietyFourth Grader Eric Fiquet said, “I’m looking forward to Mini-Society because it gets me ready for my future job.” The fourth graders were very enthusiastic about Mini-Society. The products they planned on selling ranged from small games to snacks. 

One student even mentioned nail polish. “My partner and I are going to make snow cones for the class,” said Fourth Grader Corbin Lamar.

 But that’s not all the fourth graders did during the Mini-Society events. They held town meetings, court sessions, and at the very end, teachers purchase items for an auction when it's all over.

 Mini-Society may sound like an elaborate game of “make-believe," but students actually did learn valuable lessons from this activity. “The main purpose of Mini-Society is to teach the fourth graders about economics,” said Mrs. Limb. On top of that, the students have a better understanding of how our government works, and how the real world functions. But parents shouldn’t worry about their kids missing class either, because classes still went on since the businesses were only open for an hour-and-a-half a day.

 This activity was valuable to learning the basics of the real world. One can only hope they learned how to fix the problems that may have faced their society, because who knows when those skills will come in handy?! So the next time you go to Parkveiw Elementary School, watch your step--there’s a small world in there.