Clarke Central High School seniors Kimora Howard (left) and Gabrielle Miller (right) stand behind their booth at the Fall 2025 Pop-up Shop in the Athens Community Career Academy Atrium on Oct. 21, 2025. ACCA Social Studies Instructor Dr. Reneta Elder started the Pop-up Shop initiative in 2024 as a part of the curriculum in her Personal Finance and Economics course. “(The Pop-up Shop) reinforces lessons on economics, personal finance and entrepreneurship (and) also allows students to develop problem-solving, communication and leadership skills in a hands-on environment,” Elder said. “For many, it’s an exciting opportunity to see their ideas come to life while learning valuable life and business skills.” Photo courtesy of Dr. Reneta Elder
The Athens Community Career Academy Pop-up Shop will be held in the ACCA Atrium on March 3 from 8:30 to 9:50 a.m..
Student entrepreneurs at the Athens Community Career Academy will host their semesterly Pop-up Shop market from 8:30 to 9:50 a.m. on March 3 in the ACCA Atrium, where student-operated booths will offer various goods for sale.
A graphic for the Athens Community Career Academy’s Pop-up Shop is shown. ACCA Personal Finance and Economics student Kamila Duran Jimenez, a Clarke Central High School senior, visited the Pop-up Shop in the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year and since became interested in joining the class and participating in the market. “Students and teachers get people from the (Clarke County School District) to come and buy stuff,” Duran Jimenez said. “Everyone that’s selling something, they’re all set up in a circle, and they have a table (and) a poster, a menu or price list with the prices of what they’re selling.” Graphic by Lydia Rowell
The market is a collaborative effort between ACCA Social Studies Instructor Dr. Reneta Elder, who teaches Personal Finance and Economics, and the class’s participating student entrepreneurs. Students work in teams or individually to create booths, which Elder intends to teach students realistic entrepreneurial skills.
“I coordinate the event in collaboration with students and school leadership. Students are the heart of the experience. They plan, prepare, sell and reflect,” Elder said. “The event is highly interactive, with students engaging directly with customers, explaining their products, handling transactions and responding to real-time feedback.”
At these booths, students sell products such as jewelry, baked goods, flowers, clothing, breakfast items, crafts and other handmade goods. Clarke Central High School senior Kamila Duran Jimenez, a Personal Finance and Economics student, will be selling Venezuelan food at her stand.
“When we do the (booths), we do it as if we were actually going to open a restaurant or store. We calculate all the costs, and we do the whole planning of (what) it would be like to be an entrepreneur,” Duran Jimenez said. “It’s nice because it makes you see what it actually would be like to go into (the entrepreneurship) field.”
“This event transforms abstract economic concepts into real-life experiences. Students are not just learning about entrepreneurship, they are living it.”
— Dr. Reneta Elder,
ACCA social studies instructor
Elder introduced the Pop-up Shop initiative in 2024 and has since brought back the market each semester for her classes.
“This event transforms abstract economic concepts into real-life experiences. Students are not just learning about entrepreneurship, they are living it,” Elder said. “It validates their efforts, connects school to real-world outcomes, and shows them that their ideas have value.”
