Young Entrepreneurs Take Center Stage at ACES Expo

Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES) hosted its second annual Kids Entrepreneurship Day Expo on Thursday, May 14, from 8:30AM to noon. More than 25 booths featured student-led ventures offering food, pastries, lemonade, custom cooking, and games. Parents assisted the children throughout the event, drawing families and community members to the San Pedro campus for a morning of hands-on business lessons and financial learning.
The expo transformed the school grounds into a lively fair where students applied classroom lessons to real-world sales experiences. Principal Amanda Burgos explained that the initiative directly ties into the school’s financial literacy curriculum. “The children learn financial literacy, and they use their math skills… communication skills… profit and loss,” she said. Students worked individually or in groups, investing in products, selling them, and dividing profits among themselves. The earnings were kept by participating students for personal use.
The event built on the success of last year’s inaugural expo, which was launched after teachers incorporated entrepreneurship into math and finance units. Students prepared their booths during the financial literacy portion of the curriculum, typically held in May. “After we finish financial literacy, then we have the entire school… they do their little entrepreneurship day,” Burgos noted. This year’s expo featured approximately 25 booths representing different student groups and classes, with support from teachers and parents. Students from San Pedro Roman Catholic School and New Horizon Seventh Day Adventist School also visited the expo to show their support.
Burgos emphasized that the event is designed to benefit students both academically and personally. “All this money is for the students… to help them with their summer. And also… for the following school year, and they begin to invest some of their favorite things that they want for school,” she shared.
One parent assisting at her daughter’s lemonade stand said, “It’s great seeing her count change and track sales, real math in action.” Another parent added, “My son learned profit fast after buying too much flour; teamwork with his group made it fun for him.”

The Kids Entrepreneurship Day Expo continues to encourage early financial literacy and build student confidence in basic business concepts. With proceeds helping students prepare for summer and the upcoming school year, organizers hope to see the event continue growing with even greater community participation in the future.