TUESDAYS 7pm

The Children's Business Fair (CBF) Workshop 

4 sessions only

An Online (Zoom) Family workshop of Parents and Children Ages 7-15

For those who want to prepare for the April 26th 2025 Palo Alto CBF Event! 

Or, if you're curious about attending a future business fair.

Taught by Writing Coach Royd Hatta and guest speakers

• Anaiya & Shyla Gupta of Ana 'N Shy -Experienced Children's Business Fair Teen Businesswomen

• Mia Ella Antonio -Experienced Children's Business Fair Teen Businesswoman

Four (4) Workshops at 7pm-8pm.

March:

• TUES 3/18 (Awesome Product!) - free to attend! If you'd like to continue, you can pay the course fee.

• Tues 3/25 (Ninja Marketing) - Techniques that make sales

April:

• TUES 4/8 (Beautiful Booth) - It's more than just a table!

• TUES 4/22 (How to present yourself!) - Getting ready for April 26th, the day of the event.

The first day  is Free. 

But, you must register.

Access the full course for $97 per family!

Or, donate!

This series is a fundraiser for the Children's Business Fair! Help us reach $2000.

Even if you're not participating in this year's CBF in Palo Alto, this course is the perfect primer for other fairs in our area or beyond!

This not just a fundraiser, but the best real-world advice to make the Children's Business Fair (CBF) a success for your child!

This course will be taught by an annual CBF judge and event assistant, Royd Hatta, along with annual CBF attendees who have honed their sales and marketing skills inside and outside of the fair itself. 

The first day is free, and if you like what you experience, you can pay for the rest of the series for the low cost of $97!

• Recordings of the events will be available for paid participants

• There will be a Q&A at each Zoom Workshop.

For questions, please contact Royd at: [email protected]

To Register & Pay via Zelle or Venmo visit our

Children's Business Fair 2025- 4 Workshop Registration.

This course will show students the inner workings of a story through the eyes of a reader/detective. We will choose short stories and a novel to enter a “deep dive” process to digest, question, and understand the layers of meaning in the stories. 

• What is the author’s main message? 

• How did he or she intentionally plant clues or symbols to foreshadow upcoming plot twists? 

• How does the author surprise us? 

We'll also discuss the core elements of story: character development, plot/conflict, resolution, setting, themes, and key literary devices. Students will develop their critical thinking skills while learning concrete tools for writing literary response essays. As always, we'll provide an essay structure and break down the thinking and writing into small steps.

Readings will be selected from the following:

Short Stories:

• "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu

• "Thank you, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes

• "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan

• and others!

Novel:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

(Historical fiction novel set in England during World War II)

To register, please contact 

[email protected]

Our topic is inspired by George Orwell's classic Animal Farm, a modern fable that warns citizens around the world to pay attention to the actions and choices of its leaders. In this story, when the pigs take over Mr. Jones's farm, the animals rejoice, only to discover that the new promises are not what they seem.

Students are invited to join our lively, interactive discussions of both this famous novella and relevant news articles. We'll ask deeper questions, including:

• What is the balance of power between government control and the individual rights of citizens?

• What is propaganda, and what policies actually serve the needs of the people?

• How can societies respond when politicians overstep the bounds of their positions?

• What parallels can be found in both historical and current events? 

This course is an introduction to literary analysis through weekly readings and thought-provoking group discussions. We'll use a Socratic seminar approach to develop critical thinking and writing skills. Students will be asked to write journal entries and short thought pieces as a way to reflect and organize their ideas before sharing them in class.

To register, please contact 

[email protected]

"In a family of thieves, the one who does not steal feels like an outcast, guilty for choosing a different path." 

Indeed, the intense human need to belong, to be part of a tribe, is as old as the beginning of time. Hence, a central question in stories is "What will the hero choose in the end?" To be pulled by the bonds of blood and loyalty or to break free and seek another destiny?

In this workshop, we'll explore the deeper motivations of our heroes to create compelling, dynamic stories. We'll draw from concepts in the fields of psychology and sociology, as well as the insights and tools of seasoned writers such as Brandon Sanderson, Amy Tan, and Stephen King. We'll encourage students to attend local, live author events to learn directly from published novelists.

Students will be invited to develop fictional characters with complex backstories that drive them forward into their mishaps and adventures. Writers of all skill levels and genres (fantasy, science fiction, mystery, realistic fiction, comedy, historical novels included) are welcome. 

Our classes will provide:

• Brainstorming exercises

• building internal & external character arcs 

• creating immersive settings 

• addressing plot structure 

• working through writer's block

• Lively discussions on selected novel excerpts & short stories

• Time for actual writing

Students will present a reading of their stories on the last day of class.

To register, please contact 

[email protected]

Imagine baking moist, frosted strawberry cupcakes for your neighbor’s birthday party,

selling beautiful photographs of Sequoia and Yosemite on Amazon.com,

OR designing fun, fantasy game apps for smartphones. 

All three of these business ideas were created by our teen students!

If you have ever been curious to start your own business, this workshop is the place to begin. 

This course will be a highly interactive, hands-on workshop for teen entrepreneurs who would like to build actual home-based businesses with the support of parents and friends. 

Our discussions and hands-on exercises will include:

• Brainstorming Personal Skills, Strengths & Interests

• Researching the Wants & Needs of Target Customers

• Designing Products or Services for a micro-business

• Making Samples or Prototypes for beta testers & collecting feedback

• Marketing Strategies

• Distribution Channels for Products

• A concise 1-Page Business Plan

Students will be invited to present their businesses on our last day of class. 

Feedback from a Parent:

Dear Shu-Hsien and Royd,

I can't begin to thank you for the amazing year of writing instruction that you have given Zachary.

I've watched him go from a basic writer (armed with the foundations but not skilled in paragraph and paper development) to a mature writer who can publish his own blog and sound like an adult! 

Most importantly, you made the process of learning writing skills fun. He really enjoyed your classes because they allowed him to deep dive into engaging topics while also working one-on-one with you and Royd. I couldn't have asked for more! Thank you so much!

                         ~ Anna Durante, parent of 8th grader Zachary's classes included: Persuasive Essay Writing,  1-Page Business Plan/Teen Entrepreneurship, Literary Analysis Essays and Independent Research Papers

To register, please contact:

[email protected]

This course takes what we explored with our Silly-to-Serious Essay workshop and expands it to allow for more depth in details, story, and meaning. 

We’ll explore BADTODE, our tool to embed Backstory, Action, Dialogue, Thoughts, Observations, Description, and Emotions. These are core paragraph choices to add visceral excitement and intellectual interest. 

We will identify these in Long-Form Featured Articles, Personal Essays, and Short Stories.

We’ll explore ways where our interests and perspectives can be inserted into an informative essay. This not only adds layers of authenticity, but the slight reveal makes it more interesting to write. Why? Because when we write to share our interests from personal stakes, we as artists and writers are more engaged.

This is partially the “secret” to writing. Even in academic essays, we can tap into how we relate to a random statistic when we’re truly curious. In this way, we create a space to converse, question, and capture the world as we double down on the truth and uncover its deeper, interconnected meanings. 

To register, please contact:

[email protected]