Entrepreneurship Everywhere
Sample Entrepreneurship Education
Programs in the United States
SOUTH CAROLINA
Walhalla High School
(ARC Springboard Award Winner - 2002)
Harriet Templin, Instructor
Walhalla High School
151 Razorback Lane
Walhalla SC 29691
864-638-4582
Email: htemplin@oconee.k12.sc.us
Focus: Entrepreneurship education as a continuous process
Abstract: The Walhalla High School Entrepreneurship program promotes a climate for idea generation that leads to and connects with opportunity recognition. The program was begun in 1998, and now enrolls 48 students; in fact, 26 students were turned down in 2001 due to lack of an available period to teach the class! This year, over 40 new student businesses were created in the entrepreneurship program. One student business, Marketplace Restaurant, is now in its third year of operation, and five other student businesses have been operating for multiple years, including a goat farm and a produce stand.
The program has two course components. In Entrepreneurship I, students are engaged in higher order thinking activities and are challenged to "think out of the box." In Entrepreneurship II, students as a class develop a school-based business.
In Entrepreneurship I, students develop an Entrepreneurship Ledger to reflect their growing knowledge base. They research famous and local entrepreneurs, and identify entrepreneurial characteristics. Students develop a business idea and work alone or in groups to create a Business Venture Portfolio. Students present this Business Venture Portfolio to an EntreBoard, a community-based panel that interviews the student, views the portfolio, and determines whether the EntreBoard will provide resources to back the venture.
In Entrepreneurship II, students develop a school-based business as a class. Students are divided into committees to research all aspects of opening and operating a business: market survey, securing capital, bookkeeping, pricing, and inventory control. The business opens only after all research and planning are complete. The business is evaluated each week by the class; problems are addressed and necessary changes made.
WaIhalla High School is committed to entrepreneurship; it builds success among disenfranchised students, especially females from low-income families. Entrepreneurship is a great leveler; students from all programs work together, including those from honors programs, technical programs, college prep programs, ESL programs, exchange programs, and programs for students with learning disabilities.
An entrepreneurship component is now taught to all 9th grade students, introducing them to entrepreneurial thinking as soon as they arrive on the high school campus. Seven high school teachers have been trained in the tenets of entrepreneurship, and all three area elementary schools have been assisted in adding entrepreneurship as a component of their social studies curriculum.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Rosebud Reservation in Mission, South Dakota
Sicangu Enterprise
Center
Phyllis Halligan, Enterprise Specialist
Rosebud Reservation in Mission, South Dakota
605-856-2955
605-856-4671
Focus: Youths ages 14 to 18
Abstract: Sicangu Enterprise Center is a microenterprise development
organization on the
Rosebud Reservation in Mission, South Dakota, funded by the Rosebud
Housing Authority Drug
Elimination Program. Sicangu mostly provides loans and technical assistance
to adults, but recently
added a program for youths ages 14 to 18.
Youths participate in the training and technical assistance programs
with adults, and are eligible to
receive a start-up loan upon submission of a feasible business plan.
The center created a set of workbooks especially for youths.
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