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Success has never been an easy goal to conquer. Today, working hard is not enough. Neither is working smarter. It’s more a dance of shifting skillsets, gathering information quickly, presenting an articulate argument that supports your opinion, and crafting a presentation that cannot be ignored.

As we race into a future that’s more digital and fast-paced than before, it’s more important than ever to build a generation with the perspective to navigate the artificial intelligence (AI)-steeped waters of tomorrow. For which, we must first teach kids the rules of the world and then give them perspective enough to see outside the box.

Traditional teaching methods won’t cut it; if the learning is new age, so must the method of education be. And that’s perhaps why the UAE-based Snack Troops challenge works so well. It’s an initiative spearheaded by dad and primary-teacher-turned-life-coach Adam Zargar, who spoke to wknd. about the programme that aims to foster financial literacy and entrepreneurship in school-going kids.

The way it works is simple: “We’ve got snacks — cookies and healthy bite-sized snacks. It’s kind of like two little brands that we’ve created,” says Adam. Depending on the challenge the school has accepted, kids who sign up are given hampers (for free).  “The kids then have three weeks to sell as many hampers as they can. Each hamper has 12 packets. The school’s profits from the challenge goes to their chosen charity.”

“Our year five and six in Gems Founders took part in the Snack Troops challenge, selling their brand’s Cookie Cubs cookies and sampling entrepreneurship from an early age. The school’s profits were given to charity, and selling for a good cause gave the students purpose and boosted their confidence. I recommend the challenge to any UAE-based school. The support I was given to run it was exceptional,” says Jade Kelly, assistant head of Gems Founders School, Dubai.

Adam Zargar

The result: a young, charismatic group of go-getters who are ready to make arguments for the sake of their sales, do some basic book-keeping, and even learn how to cope with rejection. “People in secondary school may be teaching kids these skills, but it’s not done so much at a primary level. All of this [exercise helps with] confidence building, problem-solving, grit, resilience,” he says.

Adam explains that building confidence is key to success and there’s no better way than real life experience to help you do it. “We know from some of the testimonials, some of the kids have gone in, super shy, really nervous to start with, and then over time, they become super confident sellers. And they come up with some creative ways to sell,” he says.

The initiative echoes the tradition of kids selling treats to familiar grown-ups — remember girl and boy scouts? But, of course, in the UAE we do things a little differently. For one thing, in keeping with the UAE government’s drive to make its residents and citizens healthier, the goodies being sold are generally healthy. “The healthy snacks are lunchbox-friendly, healthy. My kids love it,” says Adam. (The cookies are a treat; schools pick the product they want sold.)

For all the initiative they are expected to show, they are not left to their own devices. “We give schools lesson plans that are co-created with teachers,” explains Adam. “The programme hits a lot of the targets for outstanding schools. We’ve got about 12 lesson plans that the schools can do. It’s optional, but we provide that,” he says.

Once the participating schools have signed up (and gotten approval from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority), they must also identify the charity they may want to give their profit to. The use of barcodes and apps (each school has its own) to monitor the sales and receipts ensures that the selling challenge remains fair and transparent.

Those who sell the most hampers during the challenge period win rewards such as  “a hotel stay from one of our sponsors (Rove hotel)” plus “theme park tickets”.

“Those who came in second and third as well as the winning class teacher have in the past received gift experience vouchers from another sponsor — Wondergifts.ae.”

Besides the major awards, there are weekly prizes as well to keep the kiddos hooked and planning. “They get healthy skewers, or they get healthy Pizza Express pizzas (another sponsor). They may also get board games. EmiratesNBD Finwell — our lead sponsor, which also offered schools free parent literacy workshops — has been fantastic,” he adds, recalling sponsors who have been helping the initiative along.

The metrics of success are changing today; the conventional model has become redundant. Add to that, the fact that Generation Alpha has easy financial accessibility — according to a Mastercard report, 94 per cent of Gen Alpha members have a bank account and many use digital wallets, invest, and own credit cards — and we must add financial agility to the skillsets they need to build. Step one: learn about financial literacy. Step two: get comfortable with entrepreneurship. (In Dubai, the lessons come with cookies.)  

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