FAMU brings Lemonade Day to Tallahassee

Participants at FAMU's Lemonade Day

Florida A&M University's School of Business and Industry (SBI) hosted Florida's first Lemonade Day on Saturday, June 13. The event is designed to teach children in grades K-12 how to own a business and make business decisions.

LaTanya White, Tallahassee Lemonade Day City Director, and professor of entrepreneurship and management at FAMU SBI believes that children should be introduced to the principles of entrepreneurship early.

"I have so much resolve for entrepreneurship education in children K-12 so that they are prepared for life and for higher learning when they get to college and hopefully enroll in my class," said White. "By learning these skills early, they can go further in the classroom and further in their futures."

The national event started in Houston, Texas serving the educational needs of 2,700 children and has grown to more than 800,000 children in North America according to http://www.lemonadeday.org/our-story.

Every year children construct lemonade stands, receive training from the Lemonade Day curriculum, and enter their communities to implement the new skills they have learned. More than 150 local children and parents registered to be a part of Lemonade Day and 16 lemonade stands were set up around the city.

First year participators, Melanie Nickeo and her daughter Jailyn set up their stand at the Jack L. McLean Jr. Community Center. The Nickeo family began setting up at 10 a.m. and despite the hot temperature, Jailyn was happy to see customers drinking her lemonade.

"My favorite part is when the customers bought the lemonade and told me how good it was," said Jailyn.

There were many community partners and leaders engaged in the event according to White, including DeSoto Trails Elementary, the Delta Kappa Omega Chapter of Pearls of Perfection, County Commissioners and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

"Everyone has been so supportive of us and I am just happy to be out here supporting my daughter helping her find another monetary avenue in life," said Melanie. "This was just a great opportunity for kids to see how they can be rewarded by how much effort they put into it."

To learn more about Lemonade Day visit http://www.lemonadeday.org.