“”[vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/3PO8zgw0odU” align=”center”]””””Students at the district’s La Crosse Design Institute (LDI) created a small business. LDInk was started by LDI students with help from UW- La Crosse art education students to create handcrafted t-shirts and tote bags.
The unique items are made by spreading black ink on manhole covers and grates. The blank shirts and bags are then pressed down on to the ink, peeled back, and each item is imprinted with a design from the city of La Crosse.
“Our sixth-graders have taken an idea, which came from a video I saw on Facebook, and created an entire business,” said LDI advisor Maggie McHugh. “They learned about budgeting, profits, advertising, building websites, not to mention how to create a product that is desirable to consumers. These students are developing intrapersonal skills that transcend the classroom, making them ready to tackle any problem in today’s society.”
The students are divided into six departments: film, budget, media, website, graphic design, and secretary. The film group makes commercial and documentary content. The budget team handles the finances. Students in the social media group create content posts for the LDI Twitter and Facebook pages, with the website team making the business’s web page and monitoring the online presence of LDInk. The graphic design students made the LDInk logo and marketing materials. The secretary keeps track of each of the team’s progress and upcoming work while offering assistance and support to the teams as needed.
“I feel like this is such a great opportunity because not a lot of kids get to do this,” said LDI sixth-grader Ayda Weege. “You get to learn so much because you get to start your own business and work with a lot of different elements.”
LDI students created pieces at various downtown La Crosse locations, inking items for LDInk’s first public sale. Art students from UW-La Crosse were there to lend a hand. LDInk sold the items at the business’s first booth at the Cameron Street Farmer’s Market. $1,000 was generated from the sale and the school decided to donate the money to the Family and Children’s Center.
Funding for the project’s startup was provided by the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation with additional project support offered by Downtown Mainstreet, Inc. and the UW-La Crosse School of Education.””
