School Trip Inspires Entrepreneur Spirit : Santa Paula: Children show real-world skills in their campaign to raise cash for a journey to the nation’s capital.

They all have the same destination--the nation’s capital--but they are taking different economic routes.

Jose Leon bakes bread. Jannette Jauregui makes dolls. Stephanie Joe cleans houses, and Michael Hanson walks dogs.

The four are among 70 eighth-graders at Santa Paula’s Isbell School who must raise $1,075 each to pay their way for a class trip to Washington, D.C., in May.

Since September, when the fund raising began, the students have been racking their brains to come up with creative ways to earn money.

“I won’t be able to go if I don’t pay for my trip,” said 13-year-old Jannette, who has already brought in $600 by making and selling fabric dolls. “It’s really tough because we are a very small town, and there is just so much money each of us can earn.”

This is the sixth year that about 70 to 100 of the approximately 300 eighth-graders at the school are earning money to pay for a one-week trip to Washington.

“We use the trip and the fund raising as an incentive for the kids to learn to be responsible and to know that they can do anything they want to,” said Mary Stillman, an American history teacher who organizes the trip.

Students not only have to earn the funds for the journey but are required to maintain a B average and have excellent behavior, Stillman said, adding that last year a student who had already raised $600 was unable to take the trip because he got into a fight on campus.

For students like Jose Leon, the program means more than good grades and good behavior.

“This is the first time in my life that I feel I can do something on my own,” Jose said. “That I can rely on myself to start and end something. I’m also learning that as long as I organize myself, things are not as hard as they appear.”

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Although students earn most of their money individually, they also hold cooperative fund-raisers.

Once a month, the students and 20 parents meet to discuss money-making ideas. Once they decide on an event, a parent volunteers to head the effort, Stillman said.

“It’s important that we have parents as leaders,” she said. “Besides helping students to coordinate the events, they provide the support the students need to carry on their goals.”

Among the events the group has sponsored are a Christmas dance at the school that raised $1,600, a rummage sale, a poster sale and holiday gift-wrapping.

For the next few months, the students have scheduled another dance, a baseball tournament, a fashion show and sales of products, such as cosmetics, candy and pizza coupons.

Preparing for this weekend’s fund-raiser--a three-day carnival--the students spent hours weeding and cleaning the parking lot of the local K mart, where the event will take place, as well as selling tickets.

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The carnival, which began Friday, features 14 rides--five for youngsters and nine for older children and adults--10 game booths and three food stands, said event coordinator Stephen Stuart.

But parents and teachers are not the only ones helping the young entrepreneurs--the community also backs them up.

The carnival, for instance, would not have taken place without the help of the local Kiwanis Club. And last week, the local McDonald’s restaurant let the school principal, parents and students operate the facility.

Parents worked on the cash registers and the youngsters cleaned tables and served patrons. At the end of the day, McDonald’s donated 30% of the evening’s sales to the group.

“It was a lot of fun because I had a chance to work on the cash register and I took orders,” said Stephanie Joe, the group’s top money earner with $986 so far.

During group fund raising, the money is distributed according to how much work each student did, Stillman said.

“I think the way they distribute the money among us is very fair,” said Amanda Harvey, who has earned $480. “It’s also nice to work as a group because we give each other emotional support.”

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The group also has received donations from residents in the community, Stillman said.

The students, who must raise the funds by April 1, are scheduled to board a plane at Los Angeles International Airport headed for Washington on May 19.

In the nation’s capital, they will visit the White House, meet Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and attend a play at the Ford’s Theater, Stillman said.

In addition, they will take a two-day trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Va., and the surrounding area.

“The trip was the best thing I ever did in my life,” said Kathleen Nava, who went last year. “Every day, every moment I was learning something new and at the same time enjoying myself.”