Smarter Real Estate

Even though the first tree he planted was a sugar magnolia, Gabriel mostly gives away live oaks.

“They soak up greenhouse gasses better than other trees do,” he says. “They live longer, and they’re really hard to kill.”

Gabriel, who is home-schooled, says he thinks he learned about global warming and greenhouse gasses in school. Without trees, he says, we would all be dead.

Why is this so important to a 9-yearold who likes to surf and play video games?

“It’s important to all of us,” he says. “A lot of people just don’t know it is.”

Gabriel says his dad has a goal of planting 1 million trees before he dies. And Gabriel is sure he can plant even more in his lifetime.

Eggs For Sale

NAME: Stevie Pagel

AGE: 7

BIZ: Backyard fresh eggs

Stevie Pagel started raising chickens as part of a pre-kindergarten science project at St. Bernard school last year. Hesetoutto answer the question, “Can I raise chickensinmy backyard?”

The project wonfirstplace, anditspawned a businessfor Stevie, who turns 7 thismonth.

Stevie’s Backyard Eggs are available weekends in Little Forest Hills or by calling 214.728.9496.

Stevie now has seven hens that lay, and after he and his mom and dad eat all they can, Stevie sells their surplus eggs once a week.

Every weekend, usually on Sundays, Stevie sets up a homemade stand in front of their home in Little Forest Hills.

Usually,hewearsthefeltchicken hathisparentsboughtforhimat Oktoberfest. He wears it “for the cuteness factor,” he says. And he even has a catch phrase: “Best eggs ever. They’ll change your life.”

Stevie’s Eggs cost $2 for six, and there are usually about two dozen eggs to sell each week. Stevie’s parents set up a savings account for him, and so far, it contains about $40, says mom Polly Pagel. They call it his college fund.

Even though mom and dad do most of the dirty work related to the chickens, including cleaning the coop and feeding the hens, Stevie has learned a lot from the enterprise, including salesmanship and responsibility. Plus, he has to know what the change is for a $5 bill, for example.

“Justbeingoutsideandlearning aboutnaturemakesitworthwhile,” says dad Steven Pagel. “It gives us an excuse to be outside.”

Paul Find Your Fitness

lost 55 lbs and 14" in his waist

Paul Atkinson had too much weight and too little energy. With a disciplined, supervised personal training program, along with consistent participation in a weight loss program, he shed pounds and inches and gained strength. Now he can bench-press 325 pounds. That’s the power of personal training.

50% off the enrollment fee when you join, or join with a friend and both receive 75% off.

Call 214.820.7872 or visit LandryFitness.com

So you’ve made it through the first round of summer and your equipment hasn’t thrown up the surrender flag yet.

To many, it’s a relief to get through another a year with older equipment.

But, how are your energy bills … Too High?

If your equipment is 10 years or older, it consumes 35-40% more energy than the minimum standards of modern day equipment. Upgrading equipment this old can save you UP TO $70 PER MONTH on your electric bill. When you add insulation, it will increase your savings even more.

Art s Ale

Name:Aven Stewart age: 13

Biz: Artist

So you’ve made it through the first round of summer and your equipment hasn’t thrown up the surrender flag yet. To many, it’s a relief to get through another a year with older equipment. But, how are your energy bills … Too High?

If your equipment is 10 years or older, it consumes 35-40% more energy than the minimum standards of modern day equipment. Upgrading equipment this old can save you UP TO $70 PER MONTH on your electric bill. When you add insulation, it will increase your savings even more.

Aven Stewart makes intricate little collages and, sometimes, big paintings.

But those tend to be too time-consuming or too sentimental to sell. So the 13-year-old artist came up with a way to mass-produce art.

Stewart taught himself to carve and print linotypes, which he sells, along with handmade jewelry, on Etsy.com.

He carves an image into a block that is faced on one side with linoleum. Once the image is painstakingly carved, he rolls on ink and presses the design onto paper by hand.

It’s tricky because the image that winds up on the paper is a mirror of what’s on the block. The part he carves is negative space, the part of the picture that doesn’t get ink. If there are words, he carves the space around each letter to form it.

“It takes a lot of planning,” he says.

A big piece could take an hour or more to plan, and it could take six or eight hours to carve, he says.

He produces some of the linotypes in limited editions of 90, and he numbers and signs each one. So far, he has sold a few linotypes on Etsy for $8-$10 each. His goal is to raise enough money for a printing press, and the cheapest one he can find is $50.

Stewart, who justfinishedeighthgradeattheSpenceMiddleSchool T.A.G. academy, will attendBooker T. WashingtonHighSchoolforthe Performing and Visual Arts as a freshman.

Hisparents,DavidandDeAnn Stewart, are both artistically inclined, and so is their younger son, 10-yearoldLiam.TheysayAvenhasbeen practicing art since he was young.

“He works hard,” David Stewart says.

Aven isn’t sure whether he wants to be a professionalartistbecause,he says, it’s tough to make a living. But he’s already learning things about the art market. He makes intricate collages forhimself,andhemakespleasing images to sell.

“You’ve got to figure out what people like and adapt your art to what people will buy,” he says. n