This spring, Butler elementary fourth graders likely are excited about an event at the end of the school year.

They’ll take part in Mining Town, a favorite activity that will turn 10 years old at the school.

It’s a tradition where no two Mining Towns have looked alike, said fourth-grade teacher Parys Lightel who brought the event with her when she transferred from Sunrise Elementary.

“It goes along with our social studies,” she said. “We talk a lot about how Utah towns changed over time. What happened to these mining towns like Park City and Alta? They had to find a new way for their economy to survive, so they became ski towns. So, we let the kids decide if they want to keep the theme of older days as they did two years ago when the kids had a Pony Express mail service or if they want to do it a little more modern (last spring) when they had a taxi service and Uber. We let them decide based on their interests. It’s a time for them to be creative and it’s more fun when they can, because they’ve got great ideas.”

In May, some students created a ski resort as their business. Students tried the slopes on cardboard skis on white paper, which represented snow.

“It’s the first year we’ve had a ski resort,” she said.

Liesl Christensen took her business to heart, finding out several of her classmates were interested in origami. Using a book, she taught herself how to fold paper a dozen different ways to create a swan, rose, dog, dragon and others. Then, she priced them $10 a piece or two for $10 if they were smaller.

“I learned how to make them,” she said. “I learned a bit about owning a business, too.”

Next to a mini golf course, Griffin Brown set up his bowling alley business and lured his classmates to play.

“My friend and I ran it and it was pretty fun, and we had to get people there to try it,” he said.

Lightel said that is part of the students’ learning.

“We study about how the economy works and about modern-day economies. They learn about supply and demand and entrepreneurship. We include a lot of math skills as they count their money, as they fill out deposit slips for the bank, and they realize if they’re making money at their business. We talk about some of the things businesses pay for like rent, overhead, paying employees. So, when they go to the bank, they realize that they’ll earn a percent of what the business makes,” she said.

During Mining Town, each of the 100 students receives $40 to spend on services and businesses.

“Some kids spend it really fast and other kids take their time eating something while walking around so at the end, they’ll still have extra money and can put it in the bank. The goal is to learn more about the system than it is to save,” Lightel said.

Each year, there are groups of students who want to have beauty salons, so Lightel said the teachers split up the groups.

“We had a hair salon and a nail salon. There was a makeup one, too,” she said. 

Former principal Jeff Nalwalker annually has visited the salons; last spring, he got his nails painted. He also purchased a squishy toy.

“Mining Town helps kids understand how an economy works,” he said. “They learn about banking and about planning business.”

Annually, students brainstorm four business and service ideas and submit them along with a basic business plan to their teacher. The fourth-grade teachers then meet to discuss their choices.

“When they’re brainstorming, they say, ‘I can bring this’ or ‘this is something I can make.’ They have to list all the materials they need and how it will actually happen. We also have traditional roles where one group does the banking and another does the bakery, and another the general store and so on. Kids bring in donations so there’s plenty of food and drink and toys and candy and basic thing for everyone,” she said, adding it’s usually a French class in the dual immersion school that staffs the bakery so the French teacher can teach food and culture along with the students’ language skills.

One traditional — and favorite — role is jail keeper.  

Magnolia Lindhardt was one of the jail keepers this past year.

“It’s pretty fun to surprise people and put them in jail,” she said, adding students pay to put another behind bars.

Lightel found herself incarcerated.

“They love getting to arrest their teachers,” she said. “I was one of the first people who got put in jail. I still don’t know what I did.”

Lightel said each year, Mining Town is the students’ favorite hands-on learning activity.

“I love how much the kids love it. I love it’s one of the main things they remember for years and years. It really makes an impact on them,” she said.

Nalwalker agrees: “It’s a well-loved tradition that’s been going on for a while and one the kids look forward to and remember.” λ