Every other Friday, a hallway at Victor H. Hexter Elementary School in Dallas is transformed as students in the Functional Living Skills class set up a table, stock the shelves, and don their aprons to open the Hexter Market.
"This class is so important because we do have those student with disabilities," Functional Living Skills teacher Heidi Zeko said. "So these children, the meaningful hands-on work that we're doing in a school store setting is so much more powerful than anything we can do in a classroom."
The students sell chips, candy, and drinks to faculty and staff who come by their pop-up market.
"Welcome to Hexter Market," Adrian Calderone said as a teacher walked up to his table.
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The Hexter Market is where students in the FLS class can practice their speech and communication skills, as well as math.
"What's ten minus one?" a customer asked Calderone. "Nine," he replied counting out her change.
"I like to help people. Especially give them what they want," student Diya Sharma said.
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"You see they get a little bit louder. They get a little more confident with each and every customer. So their confidence is skyrocketed," Zeko said. "What's fun to see is those students that may not have had a lot of confidence before they started the Hexter Market, and just see how much they've grown!"
The Hexter Market started with a grant from the Dallas Retired Teachers Association.
"I can't even say almost without crying; it is such a joy to see them really using the skills that they have in such a wonderful way," Zeko said. "It makes them proud. It makes me proud!"
