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Fifth graders Christian Davalos and Angel Santiago helped bypassing out
a snack, orange juice and cookies, and then the fun began. Adriana Varella,
9, took the first turn as cashier, pushing the blue cash register buttons
to enter prices, complete with decimal points. Natalie Caquias, 7, unloaded
a sting of blue beads, a bracelet; some pretend bottled water and a plush
Donald Duck from her yellow shopping basket when she counted out her coins,
she realized she'd overbought." I didn't have enough money, so I had to
put some things back," said Natalie, happy that she could keep Donald
Duck"
Wilson Badillo, 8, the only male shopper in the group, was a tad more
frugal. "I 've got pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters," he said.
When he saw the total for the toy watch, plastic top, McDonald's toy and
plush Mr. Peanut he had chosen, he found he had 19 cents to spare.
"We want this program to be a learning experience, but we want the kids
to have a lot of fun too," said Smith. "They're getting faster [at handling
money]. They made their purchases and checked out in less than an hour."
Christina Rodriguez, 8, figured the total price of her purchases with
one of the calculators, an activity meant to reinforce the children's
math skills. Smith helped her count out her coins, first by fives, then
by tens. Nancy Bonelli 8 and Bianca Lopez 6 took turns as cashiers, and
Diaz coached them in counting out change for their customers.
The Kids Market is just one of seven OPMAD after school enrichment programs
offered at Burr this session that are so popular they have waiting lists.
The number of students who can enroll in activities is limited by the
number of parent volunteers available. Other programs include comic acting
with the Hartford Children's Theatre, arts and crafts, math tutoring,
healthful snacks, a dance class with Dance Connecticut and reading time
for the pre?kindergarten class.
OPMAD was founded in 1992 by concerned parents with children in the Hartford
schools. It is now active in eight elementary and one middle school, and
its organizers estimate is has about 500 members. Norma Castro, senior
on site coordinator of the Burr OPMAD program and the support of new Principal
Michele Arbour was essential to the program's success at the South End
school She also said grants Mom the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving,
The Hartford and the state legislature, obtained through the efforts of
Rep. Marie Kirkley-Bey, D-Hartford, have helped the program succeed.
After the kids' market closed for business Friday, Adrianna Varella took
out her homework. And what did she find but a math paper, lined with rows
of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
For information on OPMAD, please call (860)-548-0301.
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