CASS City, Mich. — They are young, ambitious and have made a huge step into the world of business, which is more fun to do with a friend.

Neighbors Ethan Healy, 13, and Addy Battel, 12, have been watching and working in Grandpa Battel’s sugar shack since they were old enough to be out in the woods. Roasting marshmallows under the fire, making sugar candy with snow and partially boiled sap and being in the shack taught the youngsters much about making maple syrup.

Somewhere along the way, an idea developed between the lifelong friends. “Since we’re out here in the woods anyway, we might as well have our own project,” said Battel.

As the plan escalated, so did the excitement of the two seventh-graders. They are two of the three-member Cass City junior high FFA Chapter, which is in its inaugural year. The students are using the project as the centerpiece of their Supervised Agricultural Experience project, or SAE, in which students work, volunteer or research in an agricultural field or take on entrepreneur projects.

Much of their learning in terms of recordkeeping, marketing, evaluation and interpretation skills developed through the classroom will apply to skills they can then use in their real business. To fund their project, Battel applied for and received a $1,000 grant through the National FFA Organization. The program receives hundreds of applications each year from students throughout the United States, but all applicants are not chosen to receive funds.

The pair purchased a 60-gallon jug to haul sap with an all-terrain utility vehicle, sap bags and plastic holders at an annual maple syrup producers’ trade show. They also purchased hosing and spiles. A lucky find on Craigslist added enough equipment to double their production next year.

The friends created a Facebook page, County Line Kids Pure Maple Syrup, to market their product, hoping to sell a total of 15 gallons in attractive, gift-sized packages through their page. Their backup plan is to sell the balance at local farmers’ markets.

“We can sell far more than we can produce, so I don’t think they will have trouble getting rid of it,” said Battel’s mom, Sue.

While Healy and Battel will tap and collect all their own sap, they had to make a deal with her grandfather, Mark Battel, to cook the sap into syrup. Since the evaporator pan is an expensive and tricky piece of equipment to operate, the youngsters are trading half of their collected sap in exchange for his services in cooking down the perfect syrup.

Each tree yields an average of 10 gallons per year and it takes 40 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of syrup. Battel’s grandmother, Diane, will guide them through the canning process in the sugar shack’s inspected kitchen.

Healy’s goal is to make some money this year and test the waters as a businessman. “It will be good to learn about a different business besides our family farm,” he said.

Pure maple syrup has a market value in the ballpark of $60 per gallon. The pair hope to recover their initial investment in two production seasons. “It is good to see them learning and planning ahead,” said Cathy, Healy’s mom.

The seventh-graders are home-educated and moms Cathy and Sue take on the roles of agriscience instructors. Healy and Battel attend regular meetings of the Cass City FFA Chapter, under the instruction of Russell Weyer.

“This is a very big undertaking,” he said. “They are very active and very interested in learning how to do the syrup. Addy is interested in promoting maple syrup and there are lots of untapped trees in Michigan. We are here to guide them through the process.”

Expanding the business and partnership for 2016 and beyond is one of Battel’s goals – the friends already have their eyes on another nearby woods with at least 100 untapped trees.

“Both are farm kids that know how to work,” said Sue. “They have worked on other projects together before and have been committed to complete the project. We are confident they will do well.”

While Battel  and Healy may be approaching the venture from a different perspective, they both agree on the best part of the entire maple syrup season: “Tasting – definitely tasting,” said Battel.