Entrepreneurialism Program
"The House of Entrepreneurs...learning to connect, create, and explore in today's business world."
Table of Contents
Program Overview
The two-year Entrepreneurial program at Mountain Sky is an innovative new option for students to develop skills to make them a successful member of the career world. Learn how money systems work, how businesses are organized, and how to communicate ideas in a confident manner. Students will learn how to someday take control of their financial future and create a business plan of their own.
To those ends, students who choose the Entrepreneurial path will build on their critical thinking, financial awareness, leadership and teamwork, communication, organizational planning, community activism, and goal setting skills. Our goal is to help students lay the foundation for their own business or career of interest.
At the end of the two-year course of study, students will demonstrate their learning in a capstone event like “Shark Tank” to present their business model.
7th Grade - Year 1
Personal Finance/Economics – one semester
This course explores how to make good purchasing decisions, and how you can take control of your financial future. Personal finance subjects include banking, credit cards, loans, and insurance. Students will learn about investing and participate in a stock market simulation. The economics lessons will include supply and demand, opportunity cost, and the “Economic Way of Thinking”.
Banking and Finance – one semester
Whether it will be creating your own business or working within a company, technology will continue to drive how people communicate, create transactions, and inspire their markets. We will explore the role technology plays in communications through the Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites). Students will combine their personal finance knowledge and technology skills in a personal finance case study, where they will use technology tools to analyze information and communicate their recommendations. Finally, we will also learn the basics of making a website!
8th Grade - Year 2
Communications – one semester
In this class you will fine tune your communication skills through active listening, conflict resolution, team communication, debate and public speaking, and marketing and advertising. Professional writing such as resumes, job applications, letters and emails will be included. Students will learn about the traits and behaviors of successful entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurialism (Lab) – one semester
Take all the skills learned over the three semesters and apply them to real-life projects in this entrepreneurship lab! Students will work with each other and within the community to create and execute a service-learning project and business plan. Learning how to put together a business plan, a marketing plan, and read financial reports will lay the foundation for the final project. The program concludes with a “Shark Tank” type presentation as the capstone project.
Art Media Production Studio
0ne semester
Students begin this class by learning the elements and principles of design and how to use art to visually communicate ideas for marketing, advertisements, and other promotional campaigns created in the Entrepreneurship Lab. They will apply the knowledge they acquired in Communications to create intermediate digital products such as websites, computer animations, banner/poster creations, video and sound productions. Students will use Photoshop and MS Publisher.
Student Accomplishments and Awards
Spring 2023
5 Mountain Sky Teams Qualify to Compete in the Mayors' Challenge State Championships
Team Mountain Sky (Cami G., Everett B., Wrigley R., and Tessa E.) Qualified to compete in the Economic Challenge Quiz Bowl - Middle School Division at the 2023 ACEE Mayors' Challenge.
Additionally, Mountain Sky had 4 teams finish in the "Top 10" to qualify to compete in the Personal Finance Case Study Finals.
The Lucky Charms - McKenna C., Ariana V., Evyn S.
Schrek Swamp – Emily P., Alondra F., Luis O., Saul L.
The Oreos - NyJae M., Brenna F., Teyah H.
Slytherin - Mya L., Alayah C., Madeleine T.
2nd Place Economic Challenge Quiz Bowl
Middle School Division
Team Mountain Sky (Cami G., Everett B., Wrigley R., and Tessa E.) placed 2nd in the Economic Challenge Quiz Bowl - Middle School Division at the 2023 ACEE Mayors' Challenge.
The Annual ACEE Mayors' Challenge in Academic Education Competition is a state-wide contest where teams of 3-4 students from across Arizona demonstrate their personal finance and economic knowledge through online testing and case study competitions. The 2 teams with the top scores from online testing face off in a Quiz Bowl for the State Championships.
1st Place Personal Finance Case Study Middle School Division
Team Lucky Charms (McKenna C., Evyn S., and Ariana V.) won 1st Place in the Personal Finance Case Study - Middle School Division at the 2023 ACEE Mayors' Challenge
The Annual ACEE Mayors' Challenge in Academic Education Competition is a state-wide contest where teams of 3-4 students from across Arizona demonstrate their personal finance and economic knowledge through online testing and case study competitions.
Fall 2022
9 Teams Finished in the Top 10
Mountain Sky Entrepreneurialism students participated in the Fall 2022 Stock Market Game hosted by the Arizona Council for Economic Education. Over 2200 students were participating in the state-wide game where students start with $100,000 (virtual) to invest and manage throughout the game. The trading period was exciting as the stock market faced ups and downs. Overall, Mountain Sky was well represented with 9 teams finishing in the Top 10!
2nd Place
Mountain Sky Entrepreneurialism Team Bob the Builder (Hayden A., Trevon B., Jesse C., Luke K., and Maleah P.) grew their investment portfolio to $124,574, which is a 24% return on investment. That's a healthy return in just 3 months of investing in an unpredictable market!
3rd Place
Mountain Sky Entrepreneurialism Team Flintstones (Alex B., Addison G., Addasha R.) ended the trading period with $116,022 in their portfolio, which is a 16% return on investment. That's a healthy return in just 3 months of investing in a fluctuating market!
Spring 2022
4th Place
Team Ryan Reynolds (Auston A., Loreli A., Jewel A., Brady R., and Gabriel M.) won 4th place in the Spring Stock Market Game hosted by the Arizona Council for Economic Education.
There were over 200 middle school teams from across Arizona participating in the state-wide game where students start with $100,000 (virtual) to invest and manage throughout the game. Team Ryan Reynolds made solid investment decisions and ended the game with $105,927 (virtual). That's a healthy return in just 3 months of investing in a volatile market!
1st Place Economic Challenge Quiz Bowl
Middle School Division
Team Mountain Sky 4 (Owen R., Jhonen A., Trey G., and Londyn J.) won the Economic Challenge Quiz Bowl - Middle School Division at the 2022 ACEE Mayors' Challenge.
The Annual ACEE Mayors' Challenge in Academic Education Competition is a state-wide contest where teams of 3-4 students from across Arizona demonstrate their personal finance and economic knowledge through online testing and case study competitions. The 2 teams with the top scores from online testing face off in a Quiz Bowl for the State Championships.
Judges Choice Award Outstanding Presentation
Team Mountain Sky 1 (Kanon O., Elise T., and Sebastian W.) won the Judges’ Choice Award - Outstanding Presentation
Personal Finance Case Study - Middle School Division at the 2022 ACEE Mayors' Challenge
The Annual ACEE Mayors' Challenge in Academic Education Competition is a state-wide contest where teams of 3-4 students from across Arizona demonstrate their personal finance and economic knowledge through online testing and case study competitions.
Fall 2021
2nd Place
Team Heart (Madison K., Brian R., and Cesar R.) won 2nd place in the Fall Stock Market Game hosted by the Arizona Council for Economic Education. Teams of middle school students from across Arizona, including 40 teams from Mountain Sky, participated in the state-wide game where students start with $100,000 (virtual) to invest and manage throughout the game. Team Heart made solid investment decisions and ended the game with $117,543 (virtual). That's a healthy return in just 3 months of investing!
State Winner Fall 2021 InvestWrite Essay Contest
Elise T., is the Middle School State Winner of the Fall 2021 InvestWrite Essay competition. InvestWrite, an innovative national writing competition produced by The Stock Market Game, adds a critical thinking component to help reinforce concepts learned in the classroom. Students participating in the Stock Market Game are invited to submit an essay to the national InvestWrite competition which is then scored in three rounds of judging by a panel of volunteers from the financial services industry. Elise's essay on investing in alternative fuels was impressive!
Top 2 Scoring Teams
Fall Testing
The top 2 teams for the Economic Challenge - Middle School division will face off at the 2022 ACEE Mayors' Challenge State Championships in April and after the Fall round of testing, both are from Mountain Sky!
Congratulations!
Owen R., Jhonen A., Trey G.
Jackson K., Lyla T., and Natalie Z.
The Arizona Council on Economic Education (ACEE) is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to entrepreneurship, economic and financial literacy, and workforce development in Arizona. ACEE is the only statewide organization in Arizona which: has a strong, affiliated academic base with universities and community colleges; partners with the Arizona Department of Education and the Federal Reserve Bank; prepares teachers in teaching and students in learning personal finance, economics and entrepreneurship; and distributes proven economic education resources to schools free of charge.
We know that creative leaders will need to be inspired to build tomorrow’s careers and economy, and the entrepreneurs we foster today will be critical members of our communities. Of course, not every child will be an entrepreneur when he or she enters the working world, but we can “inspire every child to have an entrepreneurial spirit: to lead confidently, think critically and creatively, be financially responsible, and understand the value of teamwork”.