At Lenox, first-graders create first-rate cookie business by selling treats to staff

But I asked them, wouldn’t it be great to give money to charities that need help from people in the community?”

Renee MacDermott first-grade teacher

The aroma of fresh-baked goods — coupled with the spirit of charity — has wafted through the halls of Lenox Elementary School for the past six months.

Teacher Renee MacDermott’s first-grade class has been taking part in a cookie charity event once a month. The class launched the event in December, with the funds from the cookies earmarked for a different charitable organization every month. The students learn not only about charity, but also about financial literacy, MacDermott said.

“The students and I had a lot of discussions that the money wouldn’t go towards us to buy things for the classroom, because the school district does that already,” she explained. “But I asked them, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to give money to charities that need help from people in the community?’”

This idea was passed along to Principal Sheilah Jefferson-Isaac and the students’ parents. MacDermott then invited parents to her class to brainstorm the mission — what they want to achieve, and what the class would do with the money that was collected. The information gathered at this meeting was presented to Jefferson-Isaac, and a day later she green-lighted this cookie business.

“So then, starting in December, we as a class brainstormed which cookie flavor we would want to sell,” MacDermott said. “Being that it was wintertime, the children chose a hot cocoa flavor cookie. Then we went around door to door, taking orders from all the teachers and staff that work at Lenox school.”

After collecting the orders, the students worked with MacDermott, using their math skills, to determine how many cookies she had to make. MacDermott, who is a state- approved baker, baked all of the cookies at home, and by the following week, they were ready for delivery. The students pushed a cart full of cookies through the halls of the school and delivered them.

“The children then delivered the cookies and they calculated how much the teachers owed,” MacDermott said. “Teachers had the option of buying one cookie or two cookies, so then the children used their math literacy skills in order to be able to calculate how much each teacher owed.”

Back in the classroom, the students counted the money they had collected. For the first month of the operation, the students and their teacher decided to donate the money to the John Theissen Children’s Foundation toy drive, based in Wantagh. According to MacDermott, the class donated a little more than $100 to the drive.

For the following couple of months, the class donated about $150 per month to various organizations, including the Last Hope Animal Shelter, in Wantagh, in January; Bethany House, in Baldwin, in February; the Town of Hempstead’s Camp Anchor in March; the Nassau Suffolk Autism Society, in April; and the Family and Children’s Association, in May.

The cookie flavors also followed a theme each month: in February, for Valentine’s Day, MacDermott baked brownie-stuffed red velvet cookies, and in March, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, she made Shamrock Shake cookies.

“This business has really given the students an opportunity to have a real-world experience,” MacDermott said.

“And they get excited when it’s ordering day and delivery day.”

She added that one student even conducted further research on autism at home after the class donated to the Nassau Suffolk Autism Society. She said the business is expanding beyond the walls of the school, and the students are having conversations about the various charitable causes with their parents.

“As a teacher, I’ve really seen the importance of providing children with a real-world experience,” MacDermott said.