Chicken Soup for the Soul? We have Lemonade for Pinterest! But we need your stories for the next chapter. 150,000 kids registered for Lemonade Day this year so we should have great stories – whether you’re a parent, participant, thirsty lemonade stand patron or super fan, we want your story. All you have to do is:

• Tweet @LemonadeDay, Facebook [Lemonade Day], or Email (mandy@lemonadeday.org) a pic or video of your Lemonade Day and we’ll post it on Lemonade Day’s Stories Pinterest Board.
• Re-post the link and send your friends to comment, like and repin.
• We’ll send the top contenders Lemonade Day fan packs each week!

Take it to the next level? Submit a video of you Lemonade Day story on Qukku and your child[ren] could be the next Lemonade Day spokesperson! Enter here. We’ll pin all My Story videos to our board too so you can be entered into TWO contests!

Check out the winners of our previous video contests:

Morgan’s Commercial

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amaia J’s Business Plan

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a guest post from Nora Hutto,  the Dean of the School of Education at University of St. Thomas. Hutto is highly accomplished and well-known as an outstanding leader in K-12 and university education. The UST School of Education offers a comprehensive teacher preparation program that provides relevant, field-based experience for the development of quality teachers and school leaders.

Lemonade Day!

Lemonade Day has provided students the opportunity to learn concepts in an applied situation.  The students who have participated now understand Edward Demmings’ plan, do, act model. Through leaning in the plan, do, act, step by step learning sequence the students have developed a conceptual understanding of  developing a Lemonade Stand or any business that has gone through the process.  The mental and physical process of building conceptual knowledge and turning it into an actual business by developing a lemonade stand teaches life long skills as well as build a confidence or can do spirit that will be with the students the rest of their life.

This model of application serves the K-12 students well, just as it does for the college student teaching the application of theory in the classroom.  The model of building a lemonade stand and selling lemonade can be integrated into the Master of Arts in Teaching Curriculum, which is the new 5th year Master’s Program at the University of St. Thomas.

Through teaching this process to all of the Graduate Students in the 5th year Master’s Program, the curriculum of Lemonade Day, children across the City of Houston in both private and parochial schools will learn the importance of building a lemonade stand in life.

Integrating the Building of a Lemonade Stand, while being based on Deming’s plan, do, act , it is also the model of St. Thomas University which includes know, be, do; educating Leaders of Faith and Culture.

This is an exciting opportunity for K-12 students and the students of St. Thomas University School of Education for which we are grateful.

We sat down with our business pitch video contest winner, Amaia to get some advice and learn what makes a successful lemonade business. See her winning video here – and if you are in the College Station area Sunday, go find her stand and buy a cup of her award winning lemonade!

Amaia is 10 years old and owner of Amaia J’s Lemonade Stand. She in4th grade at Bowen Elementary in Bryan, TX. Last year was her first time participating in Lemonade Day and she won the local Best Tasting Lemonade contest with her watermelon lemonade recipe. Amaia has taken what she learned from Lemonade Day and ran with it! She has sold her lemonade to help her school buy a kiln, earn her own money, and even help het family adopt a miniature schnauzer. She is an amazing and determined 10 year old!

How many years have you participated in Lemonade Day?

This is my 2nd year. I want a drive-thru this year.

How have you changed your business over the years?

I sell lemonade all the time now. People send me their orders on Facebook or my friends knock on the door and ask to buy some.

How has your business grown?

I have an email list. My mom helped me make up a Facebook page and Twitter. She keeps up with most of it though. I sell lemonade, watermelon lemonade, or strawberry lemonade popsicles sometimes but not too many because they take too long to freeze. I’ve set up my stand with Chef Tai’s Food Truck (winner of Food Network’s Great American Food Truck for 2011). And what’s awesome is that I can take credit cards now! Oh and I have my own t-shirts that I sell too.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Well I want to play basketball for A&M for sure! I haven’t decided if I want to be a teacher yet. Maybe.

Have you bought anything for yourself with your Lemonade Day profit?

I mostly go to Ollie’s (a store around the corner from our house) and buy chips, candy, and cokes for me and my sisters. I get lottery tickets too but my mom has to buy those for me. Sometimes I put some of the money in my lunch account to get snacks and extras at school. Right now I’m helping save up to adopt a dog (miniature schnauzer) for $350.

What’s your favorite thing about Lemonade Day & owning your own business?

Making my own money! I get to buy stuff with it for me, my mom, or my sisters. It’s like I have my own job to get stuff for me or give it to other people to help them out.

Have you had any challenges or scary moments while being an entrepreneur?

Bees! I hate bees! Sometimes they fly around because of the sugar in the lemonade.

Do you have any advice for first year Lemonade Day participants?

Find a busy place where you can sell a bunch of lemonade.

What is your financial goal for this year’s Lemonade Day? How are you going to spend some, save some and share some of that money?

I hope to make $350 for our dog and I’m giving some of my money to my school’s art program. (Bowen Elementary, Bryan, TX)

We also talked to Amaia’s mom. Every participant in Lemonade Day needs a Caring Adult to mentor them. We figured it must be a big challenge with such an amazingly creative and outgoing entrepreneur like Amaia.

Have you noticed any changes in Amaia’s academics since she began participating in Lemonade Day?

She has certainly gotten better at counting money!

As a parent, what’s the best part about watching your child do Lemonade Day?

It’s really funny to see her delegate and assign jobs to her employees (myself and big sister Jordan). She is so serious when it comes to running her stand and she wants to be as efficient as possible. I love to see Amaia’s little mind work and dream up a ton of ideas as to what she can do to bring in more business.

What are your hopes for Amaia’s business?

Amaia has an actual investor that would like to help her open up a sno-cone and drink stand here locally. I would like to see that idea come to fruition for her because she talks about it so often and has so many ideas. It will be some time before it happens though because she does have to put a business plan together.

What’s the best advice you can give a parent who is going through this program for the first time with their child[ren]?

Be involved and if you have other children, get them involved as well and make it a family project. This can be a good bonding and teaching experience with your child(ren) and they have so much fun. It is so neat to see their little minds work and the creative and outrageous ideas they come up with. Amaia has had some crazy ideas and I try not to brush them off but instead help her look into them further. I mean who would’ve thought that a 10 year old would be taking credit cards at a lemonade stand?!?! What started out as a “crazy idea” became a reality for her.

What’s your favorite story or memory of Amaia’s participation in Lemonade Day?

I have so many favorite and funny stories about Amaia and her lemonade but the one I am most proud of is her helping her school raiser money to purchase a kiln for their art class. She reached out to people on her email list, facebook, and twitter to let as many people know what she was trying to do. In a few months, she was able to help raise over $3000 in lemonade sales and donations to buy the kiln!

There are hundreds of stories like Amaia’s. To find a story near you, check out our stand map and visit your local Lemonade Day entrepreneur. Then share their story with us at mystory@lemonadeday.org – or on our facebook and twitter.

Want a great banner like Amaia’s? She ordered her’s from BuildASign! They give great discounts to Lemonade Day participants and let you customize everything! Check them out here.

*National Lemonade Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in May. This year it is May 6th, however some communities chose to celebrate it on another date. Please find your city at http://lemonadeday.org/our-cities and verify the date.

Are you a lemonade entrepreneur and want your stand on this map? Make your site at http://sites.lemonadeday.org/ - it only takes a minute – and check YES for us to publish it! You can share your site on facebook, twitter, via email and, of course, we will add it to our map!

Last year, I got the pleasure of working with Wendy Dawson and the kids with Social Motion Skills on a few occasions …

Building their lemonade stands,

Hosting guests to talk about their lessons,

and running their business at Discovery Green on Lemonade Day.

Photo by Elaine Mesker-Garcia/EMG Images

Photo by Elaine Mesker-Garcia/EMG Images

This year the Social Motion crew will be out in full force participating in Lemonade Day all around the Greater Houston area. Wendy Dawson, Director and Founder, adds “Social Motion Skills is proud to offer multiple stands this year proving that kids with autism and learning differences benefit from real world entrepreneurship practice just like their peers!  Our students embrace the lessons of design, budgeting, salesmanship and giving back to the community that supports them. The Lemonade Day project is a fantastic way to break down basic business skills for all learning levels and supports our goals of future independence and job readiness for our students. The kids love the action and camaraderie associated with this event and leave feeling like they have accomplished a REAL goal, which they have!”

On May 6th see these kids in action at the following locations around Houston, TX:

The Downs Syndrome Association of Houston [DSAH] serves over 1200 area families.

Last year they participated in Lemonade Day Houston for the first time. Their goal? They wanted to “buy a brick.” You see, they’ve outgrown their facility north of town and have their eyes on a beautiful building for sale that would allow them to grow and serve more children and adults with Downs Syndrome. So they started a capital campaign – for $1000, you can “buy a brick” to help them get closer to their goal of buying their new facility.

On Lemonade Day they set up four stands at local businesses. They told potential customers, “We’re going to buy our building … one lemonade at a time.” They made $952. And then a generous customer learned of their goal – and tipped them $50. They had done it. Together this group proved that “they’re more alike than different.” They had set a goal, made a plan, worked their plan and achieved their goal.

Ms. Boyd and Ms. Fendel, teachers at DSAH, used the Lemonade Day curriculum to teach the students about science, math and art. In science class they learned about measurements and ratios by making their lemonade recipes [regular and cherry]; they learned to make change for customers in math class; and in art class they made posters for their stands.

And then, they made a cheer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We were so touched by their story, we talked to Kroger* and asked if they could help these kids get closer to their new building this year. And then something magical happened. Kroger offered to host nine DSAH stands across Houston. But wait it gets better. Kroger also offered each stand a $50 gift certificate to cover their supplies. But wait, it gets better. This year the students’ goal is $3000. Kroger has offered to match their profits up to $3000. That’s potentially $6000 for these students who are working together to prove they aren’t as different as some people may perceive. They, too, are entrepreneurs.

MORE HERE

“I’m going to teach you a lesson” were the first words out of my dad’s mouth when I pleaded my case to borrow $250 for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers. This wasn’t just any pair of Air Jordan sneakers; this pair was not set to release to the public for another year. I didn’t want the pair for myself because I knew I could resell the shoes for $500 or more thus doubling my initial investment. My father agreed to loan me the $250 with the stipulation that I was to pay him back regardless of what happened.

With the green light from my father to purchase the pair, I mailed a $250 money order for the shoes. A week later the pair arrived, I snapped a photo, scanned it (remember having to scan pictures?), and posted the shoes for sale on a sneaker message board. Within 30 minutes I had an e-mail from Hiroshi Sinju offering $750 for the shoes. After a few exchanged e-mails, the deal was set. Hiroshi was to send me a money order for $750 plus an additional $30 to cover shipping to Japan, where Hiroshi was located. The money order arrived, everything checked out at the bank, and the money was deposited into my savings account.

Did I really just sell a pair of shoes for $750 making a $500 profit? I couldn’t believe it! Other kids were flipping burgers, delivering pizzas, mowing yards, or working in the family business during high school. I was busy selling rare shoes to Japanese collectors. Through networking and connections, I was able to obtain samples, prototypes, and specially made shoes for celebrities and athletes. My sneaker business grew over the years as my website with a rare selection of sneakers gained in popularity.

[more]

Whether you are reselling hot commodities or the best cup of lemonade, entrepreneurship starts young. Teach your child how to start, own and operate their own business with Lemonade Day. They’ll earn about money, responsibility, goal setting and lots more – plus, they get to keep all the money they make and have a ton of fun in the process.

To registration is open for Lemonade Day 2012! Find your city at LemonadeDay.org/Our-Cities and register your child today!

Photo Credit: Jeff Jowdy/ Jowdy Photography

This isn’t the first time a story like this has received National attention. Last year, stories emerged all over from NPR to grassroots organizations about children’s lemonade stands being shut down because of improper business and food permits.

Lemonade Day supports all lemonade stands. We support every youth in America.

The lemonade stand is an iconic symbol of the American dream and the foundation of free enterprise. For many kids, operating a lemonade stand is their introduction to entrepreneurship. It teaches youth financial responsibility, the value of hard work, the joy of achieving a goal, making money, and the financial freedom to make their way in the world.

Of course government has a critical role in protecting the health of consumers. Food safety is a serious issue. Municipal health departments are essential in regulating professional food businesses that are run by adults. However, applying the strict regulations to lemonade stands is taking safety out of context. Let’s not let a law designed for food stores and restaurants get in the way of youth learning valuable lessons. Health inspectors should be empowered to use personal discretion when it comes to enforcing regulations on children’s lemonade stands.

Lemonade stands are childhood rites of passage. What is the risk to society if a young person sells lemonade on the corner. If government officials shut down stands, we risk the unintended consequence of crushing the entrepreneurial spirit of the next generation. What does this teach children about government? In these times our country needs innovators.

This year, over 175,000 kids all across the country will open shop on Lemonade Day. It is a day that culminates in a month long journey of learning how to start, own and operate their own business – including setting goals, finding an investor, making healthy lemonade, opening a bank account and sharing with your community. To register your child or get involved, find your city’s website here.

photographer: Elaine Mesker-Garcia/EMG Images

For the past 3 years I have worked with the Tejano Center of Houston engaging their families, staff, and youth to register and participate in Lemonade Day. Two years ago I was speaking to the teachers, students, and parents explaining how the program works and from the corner of my eye I saw a gentleman standing in the corner looking intrigued on what I was saying. He never came up to our Lemonade booth to register his little girl and at the end of the lunch period I walked over and introduced myself to him and asked him why he had not come up to our booth and participate?

I found out he wanted to sign up his daughter, but he was embarrassed to ask me if he could also go through the entrepreneurial lessons in our educational workbooks. I asked him what kind of work he did and he told me he “cut peoples’ grass”.

I signed his daughter up for Lemonade Day and gave him a copy of our Spanish caring adult guide and asked him to carefully follow the information and lessons with his daughter. The following year when I returned to work with the students, teachers, and parents this gentleman was back and this time he was the first one to run up to our booth and show me his business cards, his company polo shirt with a professional logo he had created, and he also had with him two of his Landscaping business employees that wanted to sign up their kids for Lemonade Day.

He told me in Spanish- “Señor JC, thank you so much for giving me this material because I followed the lessons and, not only did I teach my daughter, but I also learned basic elements of running a business. Lemonade Day is just not for kids”.

His words will always stay in my mind as we prepare for another successful Lemonade Day in Houston and across the country.

JC Perez has been tirelessly leading Houston’s efforts to teach kids the skills they need to be successful at life for 3 years. In 2011, over 50,000 youth participated in Lemonade Day Houston and they are poised to shatter that record in 2012.  If you would like to get involved in Lemonade Day Houston visit houston.lemonadeday.org or email JC at jcperez@prepared4life.org. 2012 Lemonade Day registrations start soon and we will announce it first to our Community members so make sure to join our online Community!

Not in Houston? Lemonade Day is in 40 cities and counting! Find your city here and get involved!