Instilling entrepreneurship among the youth

The Northern Marianas College’s Small Business Development Center will be conducting a series of trainings on teaching youth entrepreneurship to a select group of teachers from the Public School System on Aug. 15 to 26, from 8am to 4:45pm at the SBDC Conference Room.

The seminars are part of the Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative the SBDC is advocating to foster in the youth an understanding of, interest in, and competence around entrepreneurship.

Shoshana Hecker, program manager and trainer for Washington, D.C.-based Making Cents International, will be leading the intensive, hands-on training that is designed to provide participants with the knowledge, skills, and tools to teach the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Educators who attend will be introduced to the Making Cents Business Ventures curriculum, all of which use interactive and participative methodology that enables trainees to discover business concepts, build their skills, and develop their motivation for entrepreneurship.

The teachers will then be provided with grade-specific Making Cents Business Ventures curriculum. Teachers will introduce the curriculum in their respective schools either by integrating it with existing courses or by developing programs suitable for the needs of their students. This will not only reinforce basic skills in math and reading but the youth will also be exposed to the career option of starting and operating a business, as well as learning marketable skills they can use later in life.

The select teacher participants represent the six public schools that expressed interest in, applied for, and were selected earlier this year by the SBDC to pilot-test a Youth Entrepreneurship component in their schools. Leading this innovative movement are the Dandan and Kagman elementary schools; Hopwood and Chacha Ocean View junior high schools; and Marianas and Kagman high schools.

Future plans involve extending the program and training to other schools, both public and private, throughout the CNMI. Entrepreneurial education is crucial to the success of the CNMI community and ultimately. The SBDC hopes to have a growing number of schools incorporate entrepreneurship training into their own curriculum, thereby reaching out to more youth.

This educational opportunity is sponsored by the Northern Marianas College and through a grant from the Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs.

For more information, contact Rosario Hocog at the Small Business Development Center, at (670) 235-1551 or send an email to rosarioh@nmcnet.edu. (PR)