The classic lemonade stand becomes a teaching tool: What Gardner-area kids are learning

This summer, 9-year-old Reaghan Micklus found her passion for entrepreneurship by opening a lemonade stand at her Ashburnham home.

After dad John Micklus was looking for a bank that offered kid-friendly savings accounts to start his daughter Reaghan's financial literacy journey, they found out about the Lemonade Learning Club at Fidelity Bank in Gardner.

"I'm teaching my kids that you need to have more money coming in than what is going out," he said. "We look at their accounts on a frequent basis, and we see how many transactions are going out and how much money is coming in and reconciling those at the end of the month."

About the Lemonade Learning Club

This is the first year Fidelity Bank launched the Lemonade Learning Club program. This gives customers with a Growth Savings account a lemonade stand starter kit to teach them about financial literacy and how to start a small business. The kits include a gallon pitcher, a wooden spoon, lemonade powder mix, an apron, a bag for earnings, stickers, flyers, and a lemonade recipe book.

Fidelity Bank has over 70 customers with Growth Savings accounts participating in the lemonade program.

Brenda Woods, vice president of the Gardner Banking Center, said the Lemonade Learning Club is an important piece of the bank's LifeDesign banking promise to provide care, clarity and confidence to help clients make informed financial decisions.

"Reaghan is truly an inspiration to us all and we are thrilled that she and her family chose Fidelity Bank to begin her journey of learning, saving and managing money," Woods said.

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Reaghan's success story

Besides the lemonade stand starter kit, the child participating in the lemonade program receives worksheets and a glossary that explains how to run a business, how to track sales and expenses, and how to calculate profit. John Micklus said this is Reaghan's first summer with her lemonade stand, and she made over $200.

Reaghan said she was excited to start selling lemonade so she could make her own money.

"At times, it was boring, but I like talking to customers and giving them lemonade," she said. "I learned that getting lemonade can give happiness to their day."

Reaghan said she will keep selling lemonade to put money into her savings account and would like to have her own bakery when she grows up.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: The classic lemonade stand becomes a teaching tool: What Gardner-area kids are learning