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Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................. 1

Purpose of Project ............................................................................ 2

Research .......................................................................................... 4

Planning and Development .............................................................. 5

Implementation ................................................................................. 7

Evaluation ....................................................................................... 10

Results ............................................................................................ 12

Future ............................................................................................. 13

Conclusion ...................................................................................... 14

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Purpose of Project Look into the crystal ball; do you see the future of the Free Enterprise Market System in

the hands of current middle school students? Do you see unemployment rates lowering because of the jobs future entrepreneurs create? The American Free Enterprise Market System is defined as a market economy where buyers and sellers are allowed to transact freely with little government regulation. Hidden Valley’s American Enterprise Project (AEP) Team recognized that promoting understanding and support of the American Free Enterprise Market System to local middle school students would be beneficial for the future of their community and country. Chris Pearson, a high school freshman, Melody Lindorf, a senior, four-year FBLA member, and Oregon FBLA State President and Nick Stark, a junior and three-year FBLA member, saw a correlation between unemployment statistics and entrepreneurship in their community and decided to take action.

Their desire to inform youth about entrepreneurship derived from their early partnership with the Josephine County Foundation, a student-led non-profit organization with the goal of solving major issues in Josephine County. Because of the partnership, they aspired to promote donating to non-profits and the importance of entrepreneurship in communities to teenage students. This prompted the development of Operation I.D.E.A.

I-ncrease knowledge of entrepreneurship in youth through interactive lecture. D-isperse money gathered through grants to nonprofits in Josephine County. E-nrich education by providing funds to local middle school programs. A-rrange for the expansion of Einstein Entrepreneurship week in future years.

The Operation I.D.E.A. project leaders are Nicholas Stark, Melody Lindorf, and

Christopher Pearson.

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This partnership, and the AEP Team’s involvement in FBLA related community service,

showed them that by accomplishing these goals, they would improve the future of their community by creating solutions to key issues. One of these key issues is the unemployment rate in Josephine County, which is currently 3.2% higher than the national average. Entrepreneurship promotes employment and creates jobs so it can be assumed that the unemployment rate in Josephine County is directly associated with the amount of job opportunity available.

The concern of unemployment is what helped the team decide to make an attempt to raise interest about the Free Enterprise System and unemployment rates in youth. The AEP Team’s effort toward solving this current issue consisted of planning, implementing, and executing a one-week in-classroom training with local middle school students, called Einstein Entrepreneurship Week. The week was based around promoting the American Enterprise System, encouraging youth to support the concept of entrepreneurship, and creating more jobs in the US economy, specifically Josephine County. The students were also given the opportunity to participate in a competition modeled after the hit TV show “SharkTank” for two prizes: $500 for their school and $1,000 for a charity of their choice.

Entrepreneurs are a vital part of the American Enterprise System and the AEP Team wanted to emphasize this with their project, Operation I.D.E.A. Their innovative Einstein Entrepreneurship Week was then implemented in two middle school classes at Fleming Middle School and Lincoln Savage Middle School. This was an opportunity for the AEP Team to enrich education, promote understanding of the American Enterprise System, and establish a plan where a similar project could be executed in the future. The AEP Team focused on showing local students that with America’s free enterprise system businesses have the right to set their own prices, turn a profit, or have no profit. They also felt that it was necessary for the students to learn exactly what role entrepreneurs play in their community.

Lincoln Savage Middle School

Fleming Middle School

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Research Numerous studies have shown that local entrepreneurship creates the majority of new

jobs and economic growth. The Team agreed that before initiating Operation I.D.E.A., they needed to make a connection with a business or organization that possessed current Josephine County statistics and was already taking action to solve the issues. They also needed an organization to fund the donations made by the winning teams of the Einstein Entrepreneurship Week competition to the middle schools who participated and the nonprofits in Josephine County. Their final step of research revolved solely around the topic of entrepreneurship and creating lesson plans with valuable information to teach middle school students.

JCF Connection and Community Needs

Melody is the Vice President of the Josephine County Foundation (JCF), a student-led non-profit that works to better Josephine County. Because of this connection the team was able to partner with JCF to discover statistics and solutions to Josephine County’s financial situation.

They used the information that the JCF mentors had already gathered and decided that teaching entrepreneurship fundamentals would be the most beneficial to the students and Josephine County because their community is relying on young entrepreneurs to lower the unemployment rate.

Project Execution Funds

At the end of Einstein Entrepreneurship Week, the students at two middle schools were given opportunities to win $500 for education-enriching programs at their school and funds for a nonprofit of their choice. The winning team was able to donate $1000, the second place team $500, and the third place team $250 to a nonprofit of their choice. The AEP Team needed an organization to fund the amount of $2,750 that would be donated to schools and nonprofits in the community. They began looking for funding by researching different organizations whose purpose would align directly with their project. Chris, Melody, and Nick decided to apply for grants from the Josephine County Foundation because of their existing connection; from the Grants Pass Active Club, because of their interest in enriching education; and from the Rogue Credit Union, due to their mission of dispersing funds throughout Josephine County.

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Planning and Development In order to achieve the goals of Operation I.D.E.A., the AEP Team completed a three step process. These three steps included acquiring funds through grant writing and establishing contacts with teachers for the future of this project. Step 1: Writing Grant Proposals

The team knew to achieve success in their project, they must use their resources by working with a mentor and professional grant writer. Joan Jones, the JCF Board Vice Chair, helped them develop their proposals for the three organizations to whom they submitted grant requests: Grants Pass Active Club, Rogue Federal Credit Union, and the Josephine County Foundation. The Team asked for $1,000 from the Grants Pass Active Club; $1,000 from Rogue Credit Union; and $1,750 from the Josephine County Foundation. The grants came to a total of $3,750 with the expectation that not all of their requests would be met.

After months of communication with the organizations and developing the proposals with Ms. Jones, the team received a grant of $1,000 for enriching education programs in middle schools from the Grants Pass Active Club. Chris, Melody and Nick did not receive the grant of $1,000 from the Rogue Federal Credit Union. The team then received news from the JCF Board of Trustees that they were being awarded the remaining balance of $1,750 for redistribution to community nonprofits. Step 2: Establishing Contacts with Middle Schools

Initially, the Team intended to present their program to four middle schools in their county. Due to time restrictions, prior classroom commitments, and miscommunications, the

Grants Pass Active Club Grant Proposal

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Team was only able to present at two Lincoln Savage and Fleming Middle Schools. The ultimate success that came from the project was the connections that the AEP Team made with all four of the middle schools in the process of attempting to implement Operation I.D.E.A into the classrooms. The connections established will be very beneficial for the future of this project.

The AEP Team began creating connections with the schools by contacting the principals. The principals then gave the Team the contact information for teachers who might be willing to let them teach the concepts of entrepreneurship in their respective classrooms. The Team was able to connect with principals and teachers at all four of the middle schools in their county.

Step 3: Designing Informative and Educational Curriculum

Chris, Melody, and Nick realized that with an informative and educational curriculum, they could make a great difference, with Einstein Entrepreneurship Week. In order to teach the students effectively, the AEP Team needed to design a curriculum that would outline the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, the roles of modern entrepreneurs, and the importance of nonprofits in Josephine County. In order to keep the students engaged, they knew the lessons would need to include team building activities, videos of young entrepreneurs presenting their innovative products and examples of the success one could achieve as an entrepreneur.

After two weeks of designing, the team had created five PowerPoint presentations and written lesson plans that would help them to accomplish their teaching goals. Fellow Hidden Valley chapter members then used these to help the AEP team teach at both of the middle schools. They also wanted the FBLA members who continued this project to be able to use the materials they created as a model for future lesson plans.

Examples of lesson plans and PowerPoints.

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Implementation Once Chris, Melody, and Nick had obtained funding for their project, created

informational lesson plans, and established lasting connections with the middle schools, they were ready to conduct their Einstein Entrepreneurship week. From December 1st to December

5th, the AEP Team taught entrepreneurship basics to Fleming Middle School in the junior high Personal Finance class. From December 8th to December 12th, the AEP Team taught the same information at Lincoln Savage Middle School in their Leadership class.

Day 1

The first day of Einstein Entrepreneurship Week was a success with full participation from all classes. The middle school students exercised their speaking and communication skills through team building activities and presenting exercises, and learned the basics of the Free Enterprise System and entrepreneurs. The AEP Team also helped them understand the layout of the Einstein Entrepreneurship Week, the final competition and the opportunities they would be presented with. The students displayed great enthusiasm toward the lesson that the AEP Team had prepared and anxiously anticipated the upcoming days and competition. Day 2

The second day, the students were taught about the role that an entrepreneur plays in the Free Enterprise System and their community by watching videos about Steve Jobs, of Apple, and young entrepreneurs. One of the main goals of the project was to teach students about the employment opportunities that entrepreneurship could bring to a community. The AEP Team had the students research

Students building teamwork and presentation skills.

The worksheet the students used to create their products and

presentations.

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multiple careers that they could pursue with a degree in entrepreneurship. In order to help the students to better comprehend real world entrepreneurship, Chris, Melody, and Nick had the students gather in groups to think of three new products that they would theoretically develop and present in the upcoming days.

Day 3

The third day was the most fundamental day of the Einstein Entrepreneurship Week; it focused on the preparing presentations where the students would display their innovative products. To accomplish the goal of effectively educating the students, the team prepared a worksheet for the students to organize their presentations. The worksheet outlined the specifics of what their product must include as well as a rubric of how they would be judged. It asked the students about

things they had learned during the past two days and how they would use the money from the

investors to benefit their school and community. The AEP Team then taught speaking skills they had learned in their previous years of FBLA to the students. Day 4

The AEP Team and their chapter members helped the students prepare for their final competition on the fourth day of Einstein Entrepreneurship Week. In order to prepare the students for the competition that would occur on the fifth day, the FBLA members helped the middle school students work on their presentations and speaking skills. Day 5

On the 5th day of Einstein Entrepreneurship Week, the student groups participated in a preliminary competition against their classmates for a prize of $500 to benefit their middle school. The students’ presentations were great and they showed a lot of knowledge about entrepreneurship and the product they created. Chris, Melody, and Nick were able to teach

Chris teaching the students about the roles of modern entrepreneurs.

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approximately 70 students, between the two classes. This was demonstrated through the successful presentations that came from Einstein Entrepreneurship Week. The donation to Lincoln Savage Middle School was used for leadership development tools and the contribution to Fleming Middle School was used to purchase new sports equipment to better their physical education program. December 16th: Einstein Entrepreneurship Competition

After both schools had completed Einstein Entrepreneurship Week and had competed at their individual schools, the AEP Team invited the top three teams to Hidden Valley High School for a final competition. During this competition modeled after “Shark Tank”, the teams competed against each other for a winning prize of $1000, a second place prize of $500, and a third place prize of $250 that would be donated to a local charity. The AEP Team invited three community members to be judges for the Einstein Entrepreneurship competition. This was a great opportunity for the students to learn about dedication to a project, the effects of entrepreneurship, and donating to their community. The event had great audience participation with representatives from the Josephine County Newspaper (The Daily Courier), community entrepreneurs, parents, and staff members from both middle schools.

The Einstein Entrepreneurship Competition in action!

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Evaluation

Impact on Chapter The chapter members learned a lot about entrepreneurship on American Enterprise Day.

This was where the project achieved the most chapter participation. During their monthly chapter meeting, the AEP Team asked their chapter to dress in business attire for the entire day to promote free enterprise in America.

On American Enterprise Day, Chris, Melody, and Nick presented their “Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship” lesson plan to the FBLA members. This allowed the members to learn about entrepreneurship before helping the AEP Team present to the middle school students in the following weeks.

The chapter’s impact on Einstein Entrepreneurship Week was immense. The members helped the AEP Team to create lesson plans and worked with the middle school students on their presentations. The chapter members felt that by helping the middle school students, they were bettering the future of their community. The project achieved full participation from the Hidden Valley FBLA Chapter. Impact on Middle School Students

The middle school students that were taught entrepreneurship fundamentals had very limited knowledge of the subject prior to Einstein Entrepreneurship week. At the beginning of Einstein Entrepreneurship week, the students were given a quiz where they averaged a score of 28 percent. After the students participated in the training, they took a similar test and averaged a score of 96 percent. The students showed that their understanding of entrepreneurship concepts had developed dramatically in one short week. The students als9o learned how to implement entrepreneurship in a community and how to act and dress at a professional event.

Feedback from Students

“Entrepreneurs have to go backwards to go forwards when it comes to their dreams.” –Brenna Bare

“I learned that free enterprise is driven by entrepreneurs”- Bailey Hart

“My favorite thing was that the money we won goes to a nonprofit which helps my community.” –Zayne Wilde

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Impact on Community

The AEP Team received a $1,750 grant from the Josephine County Foundation, primarily for the winners of the Einstein Entrepreneurship Competition to donate to a nonprofit of their choice in Josephine County. Ultimately, $1,000 was donated to Relay for Life and two teams donated a total of $750 to the Rogue Valley Humane Society. The main reason that the community was impacted through the two donations was because the nonprofit sector of the American Enterprise System plays a large role in Josephine County’s development and prosperity. Publicity The entire American Enterprise Project received an extraordinary amount of publicity! The most successful form of publicity the project received was in the Josephine County Newspaper (The Daily Courier) where they were featured for benefiting nonprofits while creating inventions with middle school students. The newspaper reached over 30,000 people between the paper and the online article. Chris, Melody, and Nick were also recognized at their high school, the Three Rivers School District and both middle schools’ websites where the link to the article was posted. This had the potential to reach over 5,000 students, parents, and staff. Overall Benefits The overall benefits of this project were outstanding. Not only did the AEP Team teach over 160 middle school and high school students about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, they also helped to disperse over $2,750 dollars towards enriching education in middle schools and enhancing Josephine County’s wellbeing by donating to local nonprofits. The donation to cancer research through Relay for Life will make an impact on multiple cancer patients and their families. The funds donated to the Rogue Valley Humane Society will help to save many animals as well as continue to offer their service to the residents of Josephine County. Looking forward, we hope that this project will create a great deal of future entrepreneurs, an increase in employment opportunities, and a prospering nonprofit sector in Josephine County.

The Daily Courier Feature Article

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Results

Operation I.D.E.A.’s initial goals were accomplished throughout the course of the project. The potential impact of the AEP Team’s project is calculated and demonstrated in the graph below.

Students, Members, and Organizations Qualitative Impact

Potential Quantitative Impact on Oregon

Residents

Hidden Valley High School FBLA Chapter Members

Gained the knowledge of entrepreneurship

fundamentals and the experience of teaching middle school students

105 Members

Middle School Students from Fleming and Lincoln

Savage Middle School who participated in Einstein Entrepreneurship week.

Gained the knowledge of entrepreneurship

fundamentals, worked closely with high school students and

community members, donated to local charities

80 students

Lincoln Savage and Fleming Middle School

Programs

Gained the funds needed to enrich education for all middle school students

458 students at Lincoln Savage

375 students at Fleming

Rogue Valley Humane

Society

Gained the funds needed to continue housing pets and

providing families with adoption options

76 Employees 650 Adopted pets and

Owners

Relay for Life

Gained funds to continue cancer research and

potentially impact all cancer patients in Oregon

20,870 Cancer Patients in Oregon

Chris, Melody, and Nick

Gained the experience of donating to their community, impacting middle school and high schools students, and promoting knowledge of the American Enterprise System

3 AEP Team Members

Total 22,617 People

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Future Operation I.D.E.A. has a bright future. The AEP Team has composed a three part plan

that focuses on furthering partnerships with students, schools, and the community of Josephine

County within the next three years. The plan outlined below will help to increase the impact that

Operation I.D.E.A. will have in the future. Part 1: Student Involvement The first part of the plan the AEP Team has set forth, is to expand student involvement

by teaching more classes each day. Future teams will partner with the Junior Achievement Program, an existing program whose purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to

succeed in a global economy. This program is already achieving excellence in a similar program

with younger, 6th grade, students. With this partnership, future teams will be able to expand by

involving sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The Junior Achievement Program will assist the team in an event called “Mad Money” event in which sixth graders will learn about money

management through an engaging classroom environment. Meanwhile, the AEP Team, with the help of the Hidden Valley FBLA Chapter, will prepare the seventh and eighth grade students for

life as entrepreneurs through Einstein Entrepreneurship week. Part 2: Establishing Partnerships with Schools

Part two of the three part plan is to establish partnerships with the middle schools

currently not participating, as well as, continue the partnerships with already involved schools. Within the next two years, the primary goal is to involve all four middle schools in the Three Rivers School District: Applegate and Lorna Byrne as well as Fleming and Lincoln Savage (the

currently participating schools). The goal, to accomplish by the third year of Operation I.D.E.A. is to involve the two middle schools in Grants Pass District 7: North and South middle schools.

By involving six middle schools, the Team’s impact on the community will be greatly increased.

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Part 3: Community Support The final part of the plan is to build connections with successful businesses and gain

support from organizations in Josephine County to receive better funding for Operation I.D.E.A. With a greater amount of funding, the schools and nonprofits will receive a larger donation and

be able to further the impact they can have on increasing the community’s wellbeing. This will

allow for future success of Operation I.D.E.A.

The graph below clearly demonstrates the connections the AEP Team established during the course of their project and that can be made in the future:

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Conclusion

Operation I.D.E.A. was a success. Chris, Melody, and Nick used Einstein Entrepreneurship week to accomplish all of their goals they initially set for this project. The AEP Team was able to:

ncrease knowledge of entrepreneurship in youth through Einstein Entrepreneurship week by teaching the fundamentals of entrepreneurship to two middle schools in an engaging manner.

isperse funds to nonprofits in Josephine County with the help of local businesses by writing grants with the JCF mentors. They were then able to hold the Einstein Entrepreneurship

competition to enhance students’ classroom learning experience and teach useful information to future entrepreneurs.

nrich education by providing funds to local middle school programs. The schools were then able to use the funds for their leadership and physical education classes.

rrange for the expansion of Einstein Entrepreneurship week in future years by creating contacts with schools, learning from past mistakes, and designing a three part plan to

make future years successful!

There were many complications with the middle schools, but the success came from the connections that were built and the possibility for future greatness! Although this project came with many tribulations, it evolved into a great success. The AEP Team hopes that when you look into the crystal ball, you see the future of the American Enterprise System in the hands of middle school students like the ones who participated in Operation I.D.E.A.

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