Teaching Economics and Pizza Equations

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: March 25, 2009
The students Jeb Harrison teaches in his economics classes at Pocatello High School in Idaho have learned one thing for sure about these hard times: for $5 you can get a 14-inch pizza with one topping at Molto Caldo Pizzeria, just down the street.
Earlier this month, after residents of Pocatello rejected a school levy intended to help address a depleted budget and rising costs, Mr. Harrison decided to find a way to help. He approached Dan McIsaac, the pizzeria owner, and brokered a deal.
If Mr. McIsaac paid about $315 for 10,000 sheets of paper for Mr. Harrison’s classes, more than a year’s supply, the pizzeria could run an advertisement across the bottom of every sheet handed out in class.
“Wow,” said Mr. Harrison, echoing the response of some of his students to the $5 pizza offer, “that is a pretty good deal.”
In the weeks since, Mr. McIsaac said, his lunch traffic has been fairly flat but his dinner business has increased 3 percent to 5 percent. The new patrons are mostly students’ parents.
So far, no one has accused him or Mr. Harrison of exploiting students.
Mr. Harrison said that he had no financial or other interest in the restaurant, and that the idea had helped him teach how advertising works.
“I taught my kids a good lesson,” Mr. Harrison said. “I saved my school some money, and I helped out a local business.”