Course Description:
This course studies the major functions of business and how to execute a business plan by giving students the opportunity to become real entrepreneurs! Students will run their own small business using grant money that has been awarded to us from various sources over the years. At the end of the semester, students will donate their proceeds to a local charity of their choice. They will also make microloans to aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries through Kiva.org.
Grant sources have included the Mansfield Education Foundation, the Edcamp Foundation’s Impact Grant, Google’s Applied Digital Skills, NGPF, DonorsChoose, Horace Mann, Caring Classrooms, the Charles Schwab Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
To date, students have donated $16,924 through this project! (details here).
Course Topics:
- Overview of major business functions:
- Management
- Operations
- Production
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Case studies of entrepreneurs, kidpreneurs, teenpreneurs
- Class discussions
- Business simulations & competitions
- Entrepreneurship biographies, Shark Tank, and Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch
- Running our own small business!
Ms. Collins won one of twelve Leavey Awards in 2015 from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for her unique way of teaching entrepreneurship. ( video | PDF )
Business Project Resources: