By LAURA BROOKHART / Community Columnist

First, some 25 years ago, came the Robert Fulghum bestseller “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” which has recently been released to include “25 Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things.”

Perhaps Shelli Abernathy’s fifth grade students of 2014-15 will write in the future a book titled “All The Creative Business Strategies I Needed to Know Were Learned in 5th Grade.”

Mrs. Shelli Abernathy’s Gifted Resource Classes have been making headlines for HIS throughout the school year.

Four fifth grade students, Brayden George, Sam Harrison, Katelyn Porter and Emily Moore, spent the last weeks of school developing a company, which they named G4.

This name references their “Greatly Gifted Genius Group,” a problem-based learning team.

Their given challenge was to “conceive a way to get more businesses (more successful businesses) in the shop spaces in Old Town Helena.”

They created a video presentation for City Council presentation on June 2, with each of the four students narrating in turn.

They created a hashtag—#advertisehelena—for their purpose with plans to appear over the summer at local gatherings and sell merchandise that advertises Helena. Their proposal included “setting up billboards, creating flyers and starting a social media presence.”

They also aspire to “get a column in the Birmingham News and maybe get a local commercial!”

By the end of the June 1 City Council meeting, Mayor Mark Hall had asked the council to pass a motion granting city funding to the G4 for their startup costs of $871, saying, “This will give them a platform and I think we will get triple that back.”

Mike Jones, councilman, indicated that his company, Ovation Media, would provide T-shirts and also contribute $1,000 for this endeavor.

Councilman Hal Woodman and Council President Cris Nelson each added $200 to the monies spontaneously generated, for a total of $2,200 granted to the business proposition given by these HIS fifth graders.

We know the world has changed, is changing all around us every day, and all the efforts of our local school and teachers to prepare students for success in that world are to be praised.