Teens Run Cinema in the U.S.

It seems like a typical night at the cinema, but something is different.

The Palace in Oakley, Kansas, a state in the Midwestern United States, is fully run by local teenage students taking a business entrepreneurship class.

Wang Jing has the story.

A decade ago the cinema, called The Palace, was shut down. It was a big loss for the town's residents.

Bruce Campbell, a local resident, says he thought about buying the place and fixing it up, but had no money to do so.

Then he received an offer to buy the cinema at a very low price. And it took the town's communal effort to fix the old place up.

Campbell recalls that many town residents stopped by to lend a hand.

"On the marquee we put 'We're working tonight, need help,' and people would come in."

Once the cinema was renovated, the question of who would operate it arose.

Campbell decided to select an unusual group of managers—local high school students.

For the last six years, students taking an entrepreneurship class have been running The Palace.

They choose the films, sell tickets, make popcorn, sell advertisements that are shown before the films begin, and pay the bills.

The students do not receive salaries, but they obtain real work experience with all the responsibilities of grown-up life.

Many students say they are proud of themselves for running the cinema.

"It's like real life, real money. You're paying real bills."

"I can actually handle a lot more than I thought I could."

Opening night was a huge success, so much so that the students had to set up extra chairs to accommodate the crowd.

Since then, six different high school classes have worked on making The Palace profitable.

Wang Jing, CRI News.