Youngsters get taste of working world at ECC’s Lessa’s Lemonade Stand

REASON TO SMILE: ECC teacher Margaret “Peggy” Lessa is all smiles while standing behind students who worked at the Early Childhood Center’s lemonade stand. They are, from left, Lucy Bertrand, Adriana Riggen, Madison Caramante, Sophia Rubino, and Theresa DeFalco.

(Submitted photos)

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: Isaiah Ramirez and Lainey Costello seem right at home inside Lessa’s Lemonade stand.

(Submitted photos)

PROUD ‘EMPLOYEE’: Mia Soprano, right, joins her “boss” – Margaret “Peggy” Lessa – during the recent lemonade stand project.

(Submitted photos)

HOST AND HOSTESS: Connor Farrell and Olivia Zinanni served as host and hostess during the recent opening of Lessa’s Lemonade Stand.

(Submitted photos)

Posted Thursday, June 30, 2016 1:53 pm

By Pete Fontaine

Move over, Del’s – a unique lemonade stand recently opened in Johnston.

Lessa’s Lemonade Stand had waitresses, a hostess, and host inside the Early Childhood Center (ECC), which is located off Memorial Boulevard in the rear of Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School.

“We even had bartenders, cooks, bus people, and managers,” said Margaret “Peggy” Lessa, one of the dedicated and creative teachers who was part Johnston’s first-ever all-day kindergarten. “This program was a great learning experience for our students.”

ECC students who participated in the Lessa’s Lemonade Stand program were five and six years old, and they even had to fill out applications, make resumes and have an interview before they were, as Lessa noted, “hired for the many different jobs.”

The lemonade stand became so popular that even before it opened, ECC organizers decided it would be in their best interest to hold two separate sittings, one at 10 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m.

“This project was a total success,” Lessa said. “It was fun for people of all ages, and when the 120 customers the students served left, they were amazed with the goings-on.”

Perhaps as equally impressive, Lessa went on, “was there were no spills, and each and every customer was happy and left with huge smiles on their faces.”

The program, ECC Principal Julie-anne Zarrella noted, “was another example of the types of diversified programs our great staff and teachers organized during the 2015-2016 academic year.