It is easy to see that Monterrey is a center of entrepreneurial activity by looking at the amount of businesses, gross production, universities and accelerators located within our capital city in the state of Nuevo Leon. In an effort to support this innovative and growing community, I started teaching Entrepreneurship to grades 10 - 12 when I arrived at ASFM in 2016. Below I've included a few, out of the numerous, benefits of entrepreneurial education.
Preparing Students to Face Real-Life Challenges as they Endeavor to Make a Difference
"Studying entrepreneurship benefits students and learners from different social and economic backgrounds because it teaches people to cultivate unique skills and think outside the box. Moreover, it creates opportunity, instills confidence, ensures social justice and stimulates the economy."*
Entrepreneurship appeals to a wide variety of student learning styles and allows the opportunity to practice important life skills: perseverance, creativity, innovation, empathy, team work, and tolerance for failure to name a few. My course promotes cross-curricular relationships as it exposes students to authentic learning experiences. They're creating and doing in diverse environments versus digesting theory in uniformity. Most importantly, entrepreneurs work diligently to identify and provide solutions to real people in need; in other words, they venture to Make a Difference.
Each semester, I guide my students through a series of phases, i.e., the entrepreneurial process, that enhance their schooling by actively engaging them in their own learning:
Discovery
Concept Development
Resourcing
Actualization
Harvesting
As they proceed through these phases, students
develop empathy for others as they research and identify needs in their community
grow their ability to think critically as they brainstorm for solutions
gain confidence and ability to pitch and speak convincingly as they articulate their ideas in a concise manner
learn to cope effectively with the unexpected as the evolve an awareness and tolerance for risk
become flexible, agile thinkers ready to "find problems that need to be solved, invent a solution for them, and, ultimately, make the world a better place."*
March 2017 - Present
Each Spring, ASFM hosts the Student Marketplace. This annual event offers our young entrepreneurs (grades 3 -12) the opportunity to showcase the fruits of their labor as they market their products in support of a charitable cause.
Since coming on board at ASFM, I have leveraged the Marketplace as an opportunity to guide my Entrepreneurship students to take action as leaders in our community. I challenge my students to identify needs and provide solutions, then bring those solutions to market. Students must bring to bear all of their Business Ed. learning as they:
Establish/Nurture Relationships with Stakeholders (both within and outside the classroom)
Research Needs and Generate Solutions
Develop Products and Services (solution implementation)
Manage Resources (time, money, people)
Promote and Sell (both to customers and investors)
