Holiday Spirit in Full Swing at the 8th Grade Winter Market 

By Eva L., Eylül M., Lilian S., Grade 10 

Winter market stands as a significant event in the whole of 8^th grade. The students gather and collaborate to come up with ideas. This event enhances communication and group work qualities of the students as well as salesmanship. There is advice from this year’s 8^th grade students as well as what their stalls contained and how they came up with their ideas.  

The yearly grade 8 Outdoor Winter market took place December 13, 2024.  The students sold various products and experiences from food and candles to video games and gambling.   

Each 8^th grader chose a group to work in with most people choosing groups between 3-5. They then had to come up with a product or food product to make and sell at the winter market. The products that they created varied from pancakes, cupcakes to candles, crochet items, and lots more.  

For example, Jolie R, Grade 8, said “I made candles and Christmas ornaments”.  

She was in a group with two other people, who helped her create candles which they then sold.  

Another example is from Carlotta, who said, “I baked cookies”. 

She was in a group with three other people and the way they made them was by splitting the work and baking them at home. This then allowed for more time in school to make posters and decorate their stand in order to prepare for the winter market.  

The last example that we heard about from the 8^th graders was from Matias E., and Isaac M., and they made a spinning wheel for gambling which lots of students from other grades then participated in.  

The students came up with these ideas by researching and looking at other people’s interests. For the baking and food products, most students said that they knew people liked baked goods so they thought it would be a good idea to make something like this. For the other products such as candles, crochet or gambling the students said that they were influenced by their peers or wanted to try something new. This resulted in a variety of goods that were being sold at the winter market and therefore lots of people showed up to donate their money to various foundations.  

The 8^th grade Winter Market is an annual occurrence. Each year there are new students with new ideas for their stalls. We asked students who recently participated in the Winter Market to share their top advice for future 8th graders, and here’s what they had to say: 

Jolie R, said “Don’t chose something that is too complicated and common”.  

Similarly, Oskar L., advised future students to “make something that people like and enjoy so you can raise the most money possible”.  

A group of three girls made candles and they stated that there were so many stalls selling candles that they wished they had done something more unique.  

When the day comes of the market, “make sure you wear warm clothes!” Carlotta recommended. The Winter Market lasts the whole day and requires students to be outside operating their stalls the entire time.  

The Winterfest is a cheerful gathering of grade 8 and 2024-2025 group did a satisfactory job in their products. The 6,000-euro profit was donated to the Tanzania project, Malala Foundation, Care-In-Action, Doctors Without Boarders, and Plant-for-the-Planet and the activity enhanced the Wildcats spirit. Like every year, next year’s grade 8’s Winter market will be just as amusing and thrilling.