This article describes the pilot project used to test AIM's entrepreneurship marketing curriculum. Click here for a description of the curriculum ultimately published in December 2008.
November 2007 — South-central Nebraska educators, business leaders, and government officials gathered with the AIM Institute at a luncheon in early November to launch “Marketing in the 21st Century,” a locally developed entrepreneurial marketing course for area high school students.
During the kickoff luncheon in Holdrege, staff from the AIM Institute and the Educational Service Unit (ESU) #11, who co-led the development of the new curriculum, described how the course teaches students about entrepreneurial business opportunities and allows them to design and implement their own online business in their school using eBay as a selling platform.
“In today’s modern-day marketplace, online sales level the playing field for all who participate, creating opportunities for small, rural vendors as well as nationally recognized merchandise distributors,” noted Dave Coover, director of training for the AIM Institute and one of the authors of the course curriculum. “Ultimately, the goal of this program is for eCommerce-savvy students to form business relationships with local merchants and help them develop an electronic storefront for their traditional ‘brick and mortar’ businesses.”
A Collaborative Effort
Over the past six months, AIM, ESU #11, and south-central high school teachers collaborated to develop the innovative 400-page curriculum manual that is one-of-a-kind nationally. Click here to learn more about how this project was developed.
The curriculum will be piloted during the upcoming second semester at Eustis-Farnam, Wilcox-Hildreth, Minden, Arapahoe, Cambridge and Southern Valley High Schools. Most of the teachers plan to create after-school business clubs based on the curriculum.
Representatives from the AIM Institute, the pilot schools, and the
“Marketing in the 21st Century” curriculum authors presented an
overview of the pilot program at the luncheon.
Robert Hays, technology/curriculum consultant for ESU #11, said, “Implementation of this course in Nebraska schools will bring relevant and engaging activities to students that will utilize current technology in a way that supplements traditional curriculum.”
Each of the participating schools received an eCommerce kit, valued at $500, that included a digital camera, postage materials, postage scale, strapping tape, packing materials, “21st Century Marketing Club” t-shirts for club members, and a $100 deposit to seed the club’s PayPal account.
State Senator Mark Christensen, who represents Nebraska’s 44th district, encouraged school faculty and administrators to take part in these innovative school projects to help our young people form local business relationships which will hopefully encourage them to stay in Nebraska.
Coover, Hays and the teachers will meet again at the end of the semester to evaluate the project and to consider a broader release of the curriculum.
Photos: Above Right: Design on student T-shirts; Above Left: Patricia Sheffield, Dave Johnson, and Nurita Lambert of Wilcox-Hildreth Public Schools; Right: State Senator Mark Christensen
For more information, contact:
Dave Coover
Director of Training
(402) 345-5025 Ext. 132
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
