Learning value of a dollar is the secret behind any successful business venture. Just ask one local group of rookie entrepreneurs who started their own business to earn their way to Jekyll Island’s Sea Turtle Center, one bagel and yogurt parfait at the time.

Students in the Montessori School of Covington upper elementary program started their own "drive through breakfast" business just a few short months before their end-of- the-year trip to the 4H Center on Jekyll Island. The venture was so successful the class intends to pick right up selling bagels, yogurt parfaits and juice to carpoolers and staff as soon as the new school year starts.

"The business is a way to light a spark, and it was very effective," Upper Elementary Teacher Andre Ellis said of her students, each of whom was assigned duties ranging from marketing, management and budgeting to purchasing and packaging. "Everybody stepped up every week to make it happen, and it was one of the best experiences of the year."‘

As a reward the class used its earnings at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center as part of a three-day trip to Jekyll’s 4H Center in May. Students spent an intense, electronics-free retreat learning about beach ecology, saltwater mash ecology and more.