These Students Have A (Business) Plan
Jun 21st, 2008 | By admin | Category: BusinessStanding before a phalanx of potential investors, three young women make the case for their high-end day care concept. They’ve written a 37-page business plan, and they confidently whip through a PowerPoint about their mission, budget, and marketing plan.
Welcome to “The Pitch” – a culminating event for juniors at Fenway High School in Boston. In 14 weeks, each team of students has gone from not knowing what a business plan is to creating one and trying to sell it to a panel of professional adults, the hypothetical investors.
Entrepreneurship education is gaining popularity as a way to motivate students to master everything from math to public speaking. In the era of No Child Left Behind, it’s hard for many schools to make room for entrepreneurial classes in their schedules. But groups that promote these classes, particularly in urban settings, are convinced that a curriculum about creating, financing, and owning a business can also nudge up test scores and graduation rates.
Ventures teacher and director Amy Carrier sets high standards for the business plans. She gets mentors to coach the teams as they conduct customer surveys and call businesses to research their ideas. “This is not the kind of class where a teacher can give a lecture,” she says.
Friends at other schools don’t have this opportunity, students say. “Yesterday, when I went shopping to get an outfit for this, the lady was impressed that high school students were doing business things, because you usually learn about things like this in college,” Farah says.
Tags: budget, business plan, business plans, businesse, customer surveys, day care, entrepreneurship education, farah, fenway high school, graduation rates, high school students, juniors, marketing plan, mentors, owning a business, page business plan, popularity, professional adults, test scores