STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — For the past several years, a group of students at Susan Wagner High School has been operating a small business. The culmination of long hours, field trips and lots of classroom learning, the smallish virtual bakery enterprise was formed after its owners took several courses in finance, learned about break-even analysis and marketed their well-thought plan to local business owners. It’s a study in entrepreneurship that has undoubtedly changed their lives.
“I came into high school very shy, not talkative, bad at public speaking,” said Liam Smith, a now-eloquent senior who’s headed to Hunter College to study biology in the fall. “But this class went beyond financial literacy. Not only did we become familiar with Quick Books, Excel and all the other Microsoft extensions, we filled our resumes with important life skills as well.”
The four-year program, which is part of the school’s Business Academy, introduces students to the foundations of business in freshman year, followed by leadership and public presentation lessons in year two. During junior year, participants write a business plan and begin marketing a product. Senior year is when they launch and run a virtual company.
“This is the real deal — we have been a New York State Career and Technical Education [CTE] entrepreneurial preparatory program since 2021. We prepare students to become entrepreneurs and teach them to understand financial literacy,” said Joseph Weisberg, Susan Wagner’s CTE business teacher and virtual enterprise coordinator. “In this classroom they’re learning how to plan a career and make an impact in the local business community.”…