Entrepreneur for a Day (E4D) - Visit our new website!

The Entrepreneur for a Day (E4D) program is dedicated to teaching 5^th grade students the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship and how to start a business.  Students learn the distinct differences between becoming an entrepreneur and being an employee.  One of the goals of the program is to get kids thinking about being a job creator versus a job taker. We encourage them to understand that entrepreneurship is a viable career pathway. 

During this two session program, participants experience business planning, financial literacy, marketing concepts, work place concepts, social responsibility, and team-building skills. This is actually the first step in getting entrepreneurship education into the schools.  During the first day, trained facilitators visit the students’ classroom and get them excited about the program by introducing terms and concepts of entrepreneurship.  The second day, students are invited to visit the NIACC campus where they choose a product, borrow money from a bank, buy resources they will need, make the product, then sell the product and determine if they made a profit.  The visit concludes with a tour of NIACC which offers students a sense of campus life, diversity, and validates college.  Many of these students may be the first generation in their families to attend college, and the campus presence enables the students to make a post secondary connection.

Since its inception, the program has evolved with the valuable input of teachers from this region.  We have held two concurrent summer workshops inviting teachers who have utilized the E4D to provide ideas and suggestions on how to improve the curriculum.  We have implemented concepts each year and have received positive feedback for the changes and additions.

 Another crucial component to the program is matching the individual school’s learning goals as well as “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) standards with the entrepreneurial standards so the teachers can see how it fits with what the students are already learning.  In compliance with NCLB, all participants engage in reading, writing, math and communication skills. Many schools have identified E4D as the only career-building curriculum they currently have in place, thus meeting another NCLB requirements.

“As a 5th grade teacher, I see on a daily basis the dreams, the goals, and the aspirations my students have for their future, and we always work hard towards making those dreams possible. Through E4D, students have the opportunity to articulate those future desires, learn some basics of what it takes to run a business, and work together in the incredibly positive environment created by the good people at NIACC to discover what it means to be an entrepreneur,”  commented Eric Hoefer, Washington Elementary teacher. 

E4D is half-way through its third year.  We have scheduled 13 school districts for this year and anticipate delivering the program to over 1,000 students by year end.  Every year, E4D has seen significant growth and all schools have re-enrolled once they have participated in the program.  This is testimony to the value of the program as schools have endured increased financial burdens.

Another goal of the program is to reach all northern Iowa 5^th graders and possibly make it available to all 5^th graders across the state and interstate.  We have recently applied for licensing to copyright the E4D materials so we can honor several requests we have had from other community colleges to deliver this program in their respective regions.

 

For more information regarding Entrepreneur for a Day, please contact Kelley Crane at 641-422-4234 or cranekel@niacc.edu.

 　

 
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