Exploring Value: Insights from the $2 Challenge in Entrepreneurial Leadership

Written By: Gena Wynkoop, Editorial Content Manager

What is the definition of value?

That’s the question Sydney Parno, Upper School Innovations Teacher, asks her Entrepreneurial Leadership class through the $2 Challenge, a project that asks students to grow the value of $2 in whatever means they see fit. The only rule is that it couldn’t be raised with illegal activity or investing in the stock market. 

“At the start of the project, I give them $2 in cash as a sort of symbolic representation, but the idea is to grow its value. At the end, they present and showcase all of their work and then compare their definitions of value at the end of the project,” said Sydney.

Entrepreneurial Leadership is a class where students can foster and develop global citizenship awareness by engaging with research in business, leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and bias awareness.

“I took over the class for Mariah Gentry, a former faculty member and SAAS alum, who started the $2 Challenge. Seeing the student's presentations is one of the most impactful projects I’ve ever led because the students seem to really love it,” said Sydney. “Every year, there’s a kid who takes the class because one of their friends told them to do it because of this project.”

Legend has it that one student took the $2, and through trades and exchanges, that student ended up with a boat…but the jury is still out on that one.

“Every student is different. One year, a student started with the two dollars, bought a gift card of an unknown value that turned out to be $32, which she traded with her brother for Eminem slippers and then traded the slippers to her mom for a record,” said Sydney.

“Trading is what most kids choose to do but some kids decide to start a service or a business like mowing people’s lawns, walking people’s dogs, or washing cars.”

And it was a hit among the students! Gabriela Bunin and Marina Seigel, two sophomores in a class typically meant for juniors and seniors, learned a lot in the Entrepreneurial Leadership class and in the project specifically.

“To me, the project was supposed to teach us what it takes to become an entrepreneur,” said Marina. “What I liked about it was that Sydney didn’t tell us how to [approach the project]; there was really no goal or a certain amount of money to make. It let us discover on our own what value and success meant to us.”

With that independence came a lot of freedom but also a little confusion about how to get started. What would be their first move? During the assignment, Sydney had the students check in with her and also their parents and peers to ask what kind of suggestions they had along the way.

“It was up to us to use our strengths, interests, and passions to go out, define, and create that success,” said Marina. “Every single person’s approach was different and it really opened my eyes and let me figure out something on my own, which feels unconventional because the finish line was very open-ended.”

On day one of the project, Gabby and Marina decided to trade with one another.

“I remember the first trade I did was with Gabby,” said Marina. “I traded my $2 for a pack of gum, and then I split that pack of gum and sold each half for $2. After that, I realized that in three trades, I had made the same amount as Gabby had in one trade. I learned to think ahead before I make my trades. Is this going to benefit me in the long run, or I'm going to have to work harder?”

After that, the girls decided that they might be better off combining forces and working together.

“Marina and I held a bake sale together, which didn't go quite as planned,” laughed Gabby. “We made about $15. We weren’t stoked about how much money we made in the end. Still, I got a lot of value from the experience because I learned how to have a bake sale. If I want to do something like that in the future, I know exactly what to do, like where to set up, how to advertise, and things like that.”

With leftover goodies on their hands, both Marina and Gabby took the treats and tried to sell them again to different groups of people.

“When the bake sale failed, I was able to sell the goodies at a higher price to the parents of my volleyball teammates,” explained Gabby. “Even though the initial bake sale didn’t work, I was able to use avenues and networks that were already established to sell the baked goods.”

“Taking those goodies and being able to sell them again was a turning point for me,” said Marina. “It helped me practice dealing with and pushing through failure. In that situation, I could do nothing except get up and keep going.”

While all of these trades and sales were happening, their definition of value grew and also changed.

“I’d say my traditional definition of value when I started to project was pretty spot on. I thought that value directly corresponded to the amount of ideological, emotional, or physical attachment people had to an idea or an object. What did change was that I realized that value can be had,” explained Marina. 

“I babysat for a neighbor that I’ve been helping for a while, but this time, they didn't tell me their kid was very ill. And I, in return, had to find this out from the child themselves when they had 101-degree fever. I then got very ill right before a very important event,” said Marina. “I told the family that I didn’t want to babysit [for them again because they didn’t tell me the kid was sick]. Because of this, they told me that they needed to keep me, so they offered to almost double my hourly pay, and I now understood my value as a person. Value is inherent in your ability to withhold your own labor, which was interesting to me.”

“Overall, in the end, what you get is an understanding of how we personally think about value and what it means to us,” said Gabby. “What is more valuable than just who can make the most money in four weeks?”

For Gabby, her definition of value was to create a memorable experience with friends.

“What I decided to do at the end of the project was take all the money that I had earned and put it towards an afternoon at an escape room with my closest friends. I thought that made it valuable, like I had something to work towards.”

And that was a lesson that Sydney wanted the budding entrepreneurs to experience: value doesn’t just have to be monetary.

“I want the students to learn more about who they are as people and what challenges them, like what scares them and how they can take safe risks or challenge themselves to grow. A lot of this class is how do I help students become really good people?” said Sydney. 

Above all else, they learned lessons about themselves as entrepreneurs and as people. A project that is so self-starter-oriented and focuses on their own perimeters can bring insecurities or pressures that the students hadn’t necessarily experienced before.

“I’m a perfectionist, and I am highly competitive and scared of failure,” explained Marina. “This project was a challenge for me because I felt very competitive watching my classmates, and I kept trying to do better. Each time I had a failure or a setback or nothing went quite to plan, I felt upset and like I needed to be working harder. But then I just realized it’s a school project, and I had to assign it the adequate value.” 

They also learned lessons that they can use in the future regardless of which path they decide to take after SAAS. 

“Depending on whatever I decide to do in the future, if I decide to be an entrepreneur, knowing that I have had the experience of marketing myself, my skills, and assets to people is a valuable tool,” said Gabby. I think it’s so cool that SAAS even offers a class like this to really let you thrive in this independence and how far you’re able to take yourself.”

“A lot of the students say this, but the $2 Challenge was a lot harder than they expected it to be, and not just because it challenges them in a way that their other academic projects don’t but because you can’t just stay in your bubble. You have to interact with people and challenge yourself,” said Sydney.

Even though she was originally intimidated by the class, Marina said she gained a lot from the project and the class.

“Entrepreneurial Leadership was a really great class for me to take. I was originally a little scared to take it, but it ended up being so beneficial because I have so many interests. In the class, we did so much work looking at our own strengths rather than our weaknesses and how to improve upon our strengths. Eventually, to fit the ideal entrepreneur, we can use those experiences to tackle our weaknesses,” explained Marina.

The $2 Challenge for Sydney is a way to tangibly work on what they’ve been learning in class.

“I think a lot of what we do in entrepreneurship class is very theoretical and academic, which is great, but this project makes you become an entrepreneur on your feet outside of the classroom. What I like most about it is the collaborative piece and how much you have to try on all the leadership traits we’ve discussed throughout the entire trimester. Go out there and take action!”