The ROI of Youth Entrepreneurship Education

BY APOLLO KHINE

Across the state of Delaware, teens are coming together to fill a need or to solve a problem in their community as they learn practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business ventures. Last year, 830 students operated 27 such Student-Run Enterprises across 15 Delaware schools.

Eighth graders in the Appoquinimink School District, under the guidance of their teacher, Brian Johnson, launched and operated not only the top grossing of these enterprises in the state but also second in the nation with more than $60,000 in sales. Representative Eric Morrison honored Johnson and his students while sharing their accomplishments with fellow lawmakers at Legislative Hall. All told, Johnson’s middle school students sold 34,240 items through 28,827 transactions at their pop-up store, netting both $35,000 in profit and an unforgettable learning experience.

I personally experienced the impact and value of this work-based learning activity, as I too was involved in the JA Company Program ® while attending Wilmington Friends School. Collaborating with my peers, making decisions, solving problems, speaking in public, and identifying opportunities were just a few of the skills I honed through this one-of-a-kind Junior Achievement learning experience.

Being a leader of my JA Company and competing and winning at State and National JA competitions had a profound influence on my future. In fact, because of these robust, hands-on experiences and the role models I met, I changed the focus of my career pursuits in college from my original area of interest in engineering and medicine to finance. I went on to pursue a banking career, and today I volunteer as Junior Achievement of Delaware’s chair-elect.

The 103-year-old JA Company Program has changed a lot since my high school days. The new, lean start-up approach and flexible models make it easy to implement in any curricular or afterschool environment. These include corporate host sites, such as CSC and JPMorgan Chase, and current and new CBO sites like Bellevue Farms, Christina Cultural Arts Center, and The Teen Warehouse.

What has not changed is the infusion of structured interactions with adult role models that volunteer as coaches and judges. These volunteers are anyone from Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame inductees, to Wilmington University professors, associates from Marlette Funding, and more.

The JA Company Program integrates into Delaware Department of Education’s Marketing Today Pathway; FFA and BPA/DECA; and multiple School Store and Culinary Café implementations. Academic year 2021-2022 high schools include A.I. duPont, Appoquinimink, Brennen, Caesar Rodney, Concord, Lake Forest, McKean, Middletown, Polytech, Seaford, and Smyrna. All Appoquinimink Middle School eighth graders participate in the pop-up model of the JA Company Program, including the Alfred G. Waters, Cantwell’s Bridge, Everett Meredith, and Redding schools.

Silver Lake Treatment Center, Ferris School, Newark Charter Upper School, Odessa, Saint Mark’s, and Sussex Tech High Schools will launch JA enterprises in the 2022-2023 academic year, with more signing on each week.

The JA Company Program is a turnkey, quick-to-scale statewide solution for the Youth Entrepreneurship Education measures called for by the Delaware Business Roundtable’s Delaware Growth Agenda; Strategy 1.7. Questions? Contact Student Enterprise Manager Ryan Venderlic at ryan.venderlic@ja.org.

Apollo Khine is the managing director and head of corporate development at US Consumer Bank Barclays.