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The Benefits of Entrepreneurship in Learning
By David Pencek
Math class, computer class, reading and writing classes,
some kids might view these subjects as boring. You’ve seen them, yawning and
feigning sleep, acting like they already know everything you’re discussing. In
fact, many students believe these are topics they only need to know to make it
through school. There can’t be any way they will ever need this stuff in real
life, can there? Of course, you know that the answer is yes, but how do you get
them to understand this?
For kids participating in entrepreneurship programs across the country, they see the knowledge and skills learned in these subjects come to life in “real world” experiences. In other words, they get to put their money where there mouth is. Teachers of entrepreneurship have a direct means of relating all school knowledge into the business world and finances. It’s a language that students understand, and it is inspiring these young people to become entrepreneurs. These young entrepreneurs in turn return to their schools with a greater desire to learn and increase their participation in the classroom. Grades go up, literacy rates increase, and confidence rises.
“School isn't as intimidating,” says Terri
Chapman, executive director of the Children's Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Academy in Nashville, TN. “School
isn't as frustrating because they build up a level of self-esteem.” That
self-esteem comes from knowing they can take an idea they have and make it
happen. It also comes from a feeling of academic security. The students feel
adequate in their business ventures because they feel adequate in their
educational accomplishment.
The CEO Academy enrolls 50 students per year in grades 2-8.
It works with area schools so kids are directly reinforcing the skills
taught in local class curriculum. In the summer, the academy runs its Business
Basics Camp, which gives students a jump-start in mathematics and language for
the upcoming year. Mathematics are taught for use with
developing a cash flow statement, a necessary tool for starting a
business and attracting investment funds. The
CEO Academy focuses on language skills so that students are able to write a
solid business plan. All of this effort pays off two-fold, in the student’s
business venture, and in the student’s school activities.
“Once they go back to school in the Fall, it's easy,”
Chapman says. “What they're doing in school isn't easy, but their confidence
is higher.”
Another key aspect in developing language skills at CEO is
to work on literacy . Instructors find that many students who are weak readers
suffer from the same symptom, material that doesn’t interest them. They notice
that students get more enjoyment from reading stories about topics that interest
them, especially those that cover successful entrepreneurs, like Oprah Winfrey
and Bill Gates.
“They're very excited because what they read now makes
sense,” Chapman says. “All of a sudden they become excited about reading.
It's not like social studies where they're reading about a faraway land, here
it’s something that they can relate to.”
Not only do literacy rates go up for students who go
through entrepreneurship programs, but what they want to read may surprise some.
“Not too many girls go and pick up The Wall Street
Journal or a business magazine, but the girls I worked with did,” says Juanita
Crane, who was a mentor for a mother-daughter entrepreneurship program at New
York City Technical School. “They expand their reading, and their vocabulary
expands.”
In high school, where students are starting to make career
choices, this desire to learn intensifies. Celeste Morris, who works with New
York City high school students as the entrepreneurship coach for the city's
ACT-SO chapter, sees this first hand. Celeste gives the example of a student she
coached who was trying to develop ways to market his art and set up a school.
Almost immediately the student was faced with the reality that not many people
were willing to listen to, much less help, a student that didn’t possess good
academic skills and polish. The student took on a renewed interest and vigorous
approach towards his education. He improved his math and writing skills and was
then able to develop a solid business plan.
Morris says her students also develop verbal skills that
help with oral presentations and speeches.
“Children now have an opportunity where entrepreneurship
is a choice like any career,” Morris says. “But even if they decide not to
become an entrepreneur, the skills they learn will be skills they need to be a
success in life no matter what they do.”
The entrepreneurship programs have been especially
beneficial to teenage girls. At an age when some girls shy away and don't
participate in class as much as they did in junior high, the young ladies who go
through a business program go back to their schools brimming with confidence.
“They have the confidence to be able to stand in front of their peers and state their opinions,” Crane says. “They feel they can take a stand that may not be popular and remain true to themselves.” It’s evident in the transformation that occurs. Crane explains,
“At 13, girls are so conscious of being girly-girl (that)
they start not raising their hands in class. They question their own
abilities.” But it’s not so
with students who have gone through entrepreneurship training, she says, “The
girls who went through the program were handling real money and balancing
checkbooks. Now, they're very poised. They have become so mature and
self-assured when dealing with the public.”
This is good news for the teachers at the students’ regular schools. They get the reward of seeing these young people strive and achieve. In the end, both sides are happy. The students take pleasure in knowing they can do something meaningful and earn a living, and the teachers get the satisfaction of seeing a student make something better for themselves and get an education. And for most, that’s as good as it gets.