By Michelle Pitcher
Editor-in-Chief

Manuel Ernesto did not have the means to open a general store near his home in Nicaragua. He did not have the means, that is, until students at Coppell High School made his dream possible.

Since the spring of 2011, CHS economics students have been working with Kiva, a non-profit website that connects donors around the world to entrepreneurs in need of financial aid. Lenders on the site can give microloans to people in less developed countries, to be paid back in full whenever the recipient is able. Since setting up an account with Kiva, Donnette Alexander’s economics students have loaned and re-loaned a total of $1,800 to 29 people from all walks of life.

In order to keep this account growing, senior IB economics students have developed a business plan that has caught the attention of many CHS students and teachers. For their fundraiser, these students have designed custom CHS sunglasses and are selling them for $5. Individual economics students will be selling these sunglasses indefinitely in order to generate the greatest possible profit.

“This is the perfect fundraiser for CHS,” senior and chief marketing officer Eric Park said. “It is a great way to be spirited and at the same time help out entrepreneurs in less-developed countries.”

Park, along with seniors Aaron Bush (CEO), Ethan Foss (COO) and Jennifer Dinh (CFO) make up the executive team in charge of this project. Park, Bush, Foss and senior Laura Kattilakoski came up with the product idea, wrote the business plan and presented it to their classmates, who then chose it as the most viable option. T-shirts, water bottles and buttons were among the ideas that were not chosen.

“This month, we have enough money to make three more loans,” Alexander said. “This project has already done a lot of good.”

The response to the sunglasses was overwhelming. In the first two weeks, students sold approximately 200 pairs of red and black sunglasses. Because of the low cost of production, the group broke even after selling just 84 pairs.

The class sold the sunglasses at lunch between Sept. 24 and Oct. 5, and administration has already given students approval to sell the product in classrooms. Because of possibilities for sales, students hope to expand their product line to increase profitability. After polling the student body, the executive team will determine whether or not to expand the color options for the glasses, which currently only come in red and black. In addition, the marketing team would like to sell at football games and later in the spring, but these decisions are pending administrator approval.

“Using our statistical analysis, we are able to determine what it is the student body wants,” Bush said.

While people like Ernesto are benefitting from the loans made through Kiva, the students involved in this project are reaping great rewards as well.

“I’ve been interested in business and investment since the fourth grade,” Bush said. “My main interest is investing, so by actually running a business, I am able to see how they work and how to better interpret them on the market.”

The money raised by the sunglasses sales may go to help someone like Toilalo in Samoa, who needed some money to buy fishing supplies and who has since repaid 65 percent of her loan, or Sulduz in Azerbaijan, whom CHS students helped to purchase musical instruments. From agriculture to arts and construction, CHS students have made a difference in the lives of many entrepreneurs across the world.

“The goal is for this Kiva fund to help people for as long as CHS exists,” Alexander said.