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They sold homemade jewelry, 3D printed gadgets and fidgets, crotched items, baked goods and more.
Those were just some of the products sold by young people Sunday at the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Student Market at The Barn 1880 Historic Venue, Warsaw.
Amanda Scroggs, co-owner of The Barn 1880 with her husband Jonathon, said, “I was inspired because I have a friend whose son has been a part of the North Webster Kids Market, and I’ve been for several years. They have so many creative young people that show up and sell at that market, and I was like, ‘Why doesn’t Warsaw have one? Why doesn’t our community do something like this?’”
She proposed the idea to the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and they jumped on the idea.
“They already work with a lot of young people and wanted to continue to grow their young ambassadors, so it just really was a perfect fit, perfect timing when I brought this up,” Scroggs said.
After looking at everyone’s calendars to try to make sure the event didn’t overlap other events like the fair, they decided on Sunday.
Chamber Events Coordinator Nora Christiansen said, “We’re always excited to partner with Amanda, she’s a great ally in this community. And it was a wonderful opportunity to give these kids a little taste of what it feels like to do these things.”
She said they have their Youth Chamber as well, which they are building up. Some of the students participating in the Student Market Sunday have joined that. The Youth Chamber is another opportunity for kids to see what it’s like to run a business.
To let the students know about the Student Market, Christiansen said they announced it through all of their normal channels. She had a lot of fun doing videos with many of the kids who were interested that were posted on social media. For those not on social media, the Chamber also put out flyers.
Additionally, Scroggs said she was able to reach out to the schools and let them know the Student Market was happening.
“And then, to be honest with you, we were really pleased because North Webster, we told them, ‘We were really inspired by you, we’d like to do something here.’ They were super helpful and they shared it with the people who had booths at their market. So not competition, but collaboration, so we’re super grateful for them,” Scroggs said.
“Within maybe a week or two after the Chamber of Commerce advertised it, we filled all the spots. So we know it’s popular, we know there’s a waiting list of kids wanting to do this. Even today, parents, grandparents and students are coming up to us going, ‘Are you going to do this again? When are you going to do this again?’ So, that’s what’s really exciting. They love it. We’ve had a great turnout,” Scroggs stated.
She said some of the 30 booths at the Student Market were brothers and sisters, some were best friends sharing a table while others were individuals. They represented almost all of the Warsaw elementary schools, as well as homeschooled students and students from other school districts within the county. There were even college students.
“I think we wanted to say Student Market, K literally through graduating from your master’s degree, because we just wanted to bring that kind of vibe and I’m really impressed with the diversity of what we have here today,” Scroggs said.
Explaining the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Christiansen said, “We have a few local entrepreneurs walking around with some questions for the kids, and the kids also volunteered to be in this, and then we’ll award one of them as our Entrepreneur of the Year for the Chamber.”
There were many booths selling 3D-printed items, but Scroggs said every single one of those 3D print small businesses had something unique on their table.
There were tables selling yarn work, from textiles to crotcheting, which is very popular right now with young people.
Downstairs there were the bakers and drink makers.
“I am so impressed with people that have come Venmo ready,” Scroggs stated. “These young kids are way, way more advanced than I would have been at this age. I’m so impressed.”
She said the kids have been working all summer in preparation for the Student Market.
Adelle Harrison, an Eisenhower Elementary student, had her business, He Is Resin, at the market.
“I love following Jesus and when I first started making resin, I thought of it as a way to connect to Him. I started making resin because I actually saw it in a little packet at Target and thought, ‘Oh, that would be fun,’” she said. “So then, I started it doing it and fell in love and now I just do it for fun.”
She makes keychains, earrings, necklaces, charms and frames with the resin.
Jaden Seif, Lakeland Christian, had his Jaden’s Fidgets & Gadgets business at the market.
“I offer fidgets and gadgets. Fidgets, you just play with and have fun around with them if you need something to do. And gadgets, like a phone holder or something you would use for something that you would use for work,” he explained.
He makes them with his 3D printer, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to 10 hours. As for what he wants to accomplish with his business, Seif said, “Definitely to make money, and a lot of other things to accomplish.”
Maryam Anwar, 13, an Edgewood Middle School student, was at the market with her business Handmade Havens where she sells her crotchet items.
“They’re mostly animals and popular things that a lot of people like,” she said.
The length to make each one depends on its size and colors, but Anwar said the average is 30 minutes. She’s only been into crotcheting for less than a year, but learned it pretty quickly because she already knew how to knit.
“I just hope to raise enough money for college,” Anwar stated.
Charlotte Plack, 10, a Lincoln Elementary student, was selling cookies with her business, Cookie Jar Co. She made them herself and offered a variety.
While she didn’t come up with the recipes herself, she said she “altered” them a few times.
“Like, if on the Rice Krispie chocolate chip, if I don’t like the amount of oats, I change the oats and might add more Rice Krispies,” she said.
Christiansen said they’ll have another Student Market in the future. This one was open to students from kindergarten to college who live or are from Kosciusko County, and that will continue going forward so the Chamber can show off some of the county’s young talent.
“Even today, we’ve had parents and grandparents and other people going, ‘When is this happening again? How do we get our kids involved?’ I think there’s a real need, as creative as our young people, for them to have some outlet, some opportunities, experiences,” Scroggs said. “But what’s also so lovely about a market situation is the networking. They get to walk around and go, ‘Oh, I like what they did here,’ or, ‘Goodness, I never thought about that.’ And they just learn from each other.”
Another great thing about the Student Market, she continued, was seeing the kids do their own branding and marketing.
Scroggs said she was thankful that people showed up to support the students and let the kids talk about their business and ideas.
