By Sebastian Sedilla
Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) is a project developed by CommUniverCity, and it provides elementary and middle school students with the opportunity to learn fundamental entrepreneurial and business skills.
CommUniverCity was able to continue this successful project for another year, thanks to the partnership between the CORAL after-school program and Professor Wells’ BUS3 161A class.
Together, SJSU business students connected with local youth to teach entrepreneurship concepts and introduce general business principles through engaging, hands-on activities.
On a mid-April, subtly warm afternoon, the SJSU BUS3 161A students headed over to River Glen Elementary School, where the SJSU students were split into five groups, all presenting a different topic and, along with it, a kinetic activity in relation to their business topic.
The topics included sales, ideation, team motivation, negotiation, finance, and financial management. Each group faced the challenge of explaining technical business concepts in a way that elementary school students could understand while creating an engaging, hands-on activity. The SJSU students found creative ways to introduce these topics, and the elementary students had a great time participating.
One SJSU group developed a sales pitch activity in a format relatively similar to the TV show “Shark Tank,” insightfully encouraging the River Glen elementary students to ask themselves questions like “Why would people buy it [product]?” or “What is the problem you are trying to solve?”
And just like Shark Tank, the young students had the opportunity to pitch their idea in front of investors, or in this case, their peers.
Another group used plastic cups to demonstrate team-building skills. Elementary students were first separated into teams and then given tasks by the college students. By stacking these plastic cups into various heights and sizes, the elementary students had to effectively communicate and assign each other roles in order to complete the task in the fastest time possible.
The college students demonstrated remarkable creativity in introducing entrepreneurship and business concepts while designing activities that elementary students genuinely enjoyed. After participating in YEA, many elementary students said they wanted to start their own businesses based on their interests, such as sports, showing how the experience inspired them to think like future entrepreneurs.