A corporation, complete with stockholders, which designs, manufactures and merchandizes products is a business like many others, except that its members are eight to twelve year olds in Anchorage, Alaska. An open-structured elementary school, grouped into six teams of children from four grade levels, operates with teams of teachers employing individualized programs. A new approach to learning, necessitated by a group of students unsuccessful in traditional programs, was developed to emphasize practical learning and relevance to daily life by centering on a classroom business. Students prepare the materials, produce clay items and hand-painted note cards, and sell them for profit. The business is the basis for teaching fundamental academic skills: math skills are learned as needed for business operations; language skills are taught constantly through report writing, advertising, and the like; oral skills are improved through contact with community resource people; research techniques are developed as students seek information on purchasing supplies or marketing their products. Results show continued group enthusiasm, improvement of student skills, and considerable personal growth in the children's communication skills. (Author/KSM)