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Students at Mini-Society camps develop a self-organizing economic society with the consultative guidance of the teacher, driven by the need to resolve a classroom situation involving the fundamental economic issues of scarcity and allocation of resources. The children begin to identify opportunities in their environment and initiate entrepreneurship ventures to provide goods and services to their fellow citizens.

CLEMSON — Mini-Society sounds a lot like “Lord of the Flies” minus the murder, flames and spears.

In actuality, Mini-Society is an experienced-based instructional system designed to teach economic, entrepreneurship and citizen concepts to 10- to 12-year-olds. And it could make civics class obsolete.

The program, developed by Marilyn Kourilsky in the early-70s, makes for a compelling microcosm. First of all, the kids get to make the rules themselves. They devise the currency system, comprise town council and name the town.

Zach Efron City, anyone?

“We kind of let them do their own thing — as long as it’s not illegal and no one is getting hurt, both emotionally and physically,” said Clemson University Extension Agent Kathy Wright, a certified Mini-Society instructor. “We empower them to create their own society and they do a great job.”

If you’re a elementary school teacher, you’re probably cringing right now. But Wright said Mini-Society participants actually pull it off. “It” referring to grasping big concepts like governments and commerce — not limbs.

Math, verbal, coping and creative skills: they all get addressed. Early into Mini-Society proceedings, the children lay out a system of currency. They decide on denomination and even appearance. At a previous Wright-helmed Mini-Society, campers named their town Cloudville. Their money featured cloud-shaped bills.

For all their surprising worldliness in other Mini-Society matters, the kids can get quite flippant with denominations. We’re talking seven-, nine- and 18-dollar bills. After a few gigs — and even more change-making issues — the town quickly changes to more logical intervals.

To get the mini-economy rolling, Wright hands out cash awards for simple, good-behavior: arriving on time, keeping your area in order, wearing your name tag, etc. To feed the plot further, various kid-friendly items are made for sale, like jewelry, stationary, modeling clay, a Nerf basketball set and Clemson hats.

“Once they’ve bought something, they realize, ‘I can create a business. I can get more money and buy more things,” Wright said.

Making and selling wallets for other participants is a business arising in many Mini-Society sessions. It’s also frequently emulated. Inevitably the outcries ensue, “They stole my idea.”

Whenever a teachable moment arises, Wright waits until a scheduled debriefing to address it with real world examples. Idea rip-off issues are a good time to discuss concepts like monopolies and partnerships.

The burger analogy is a good one: “Would you like it if you could only buy one type of hamburger from one restaurant?” Wright said.

Between debriefings with Wright, it’s the camper-elected town council that rules on disagreements. The frequent sources of conflict include theft, space issues, disrespectful behavior and, of course, copycat drama.

“We ask different children to chair the council each time; they learn a lot about parliamentary procedures,” Wright said. “Sometimes we even see voting blocks, which is always an interesting concept to teach, particularly when in an election year, like this year.”

Since its introduction, Mini-Society has been implemented in more than 43 states. In 1999, Wright was one of six Clemson extension agents to become certified as Mini-Society instructors in 1999 — South Carolina’s first. Since that time, Clemson Extension has trained 188 adult volunteers, who have provided the Mini-Society experience to over 1,507 kids. A grant from the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership provides the funding, over $100,000 so far.

“Mini-Society is one of the best tools I have found teaching children how the world works, how to get along 
 basically life skills children need to become good citizens and good adults,” Wright said.

After initially being introduced to S.C. youths through 4-H, Mini-Society has found its way into programming for schools, day camps and after-school programs across the state.

The one-hour sessions typically involve 10 to 15 students, who spend at least 20 hours in Mini-Society. Wright has taught sessions in Cherokee, Greenville and Anderson counties.

Learning from experience instead of textbook engages campers in a big way, Wright said.

“The kids totally fall in love with it.”

In addition to its progressive mechanics, Mini-Society also places a seed of ingenuity in the young participants’ brains.

Said Wright: “Many of us grew up never even thinking about creating a business and being our own boss. If we can provide them with that mindset early on, it allows those ideas to grow.”

A future mayor or congressman. The invention that turns Apple into Studebaker. A cure for AIDS.

Is tomorrow’s grandeur sprouting in Cloudville?