By Maggie Walsh
In the Citizen Schools’ apprenticeship program “BizKids,” 6th grade students from Orchard Gardens School in Roxbury, MA come together to learn how to apply business skills and concepts to solving social issues in our world. Over the course of the semester, the class learned about a wide range of business concepts and how they could be used to make a difference for aspiring entrepreneurs in developing nations. By exploring Grameen Bank as well as Kiva.org, the children learned about microfinance and the many different entrepreneurial ventures that it could enable.
BizKids provided the opportunity for the students to gain firsthand experience in making difficult business decisions through engagement in heated debates about their products and pricing. More so, they gained an understanding of the many social issues in our world and the difficulty in having to choose just one recipient of aid. These discussions gave the students the opportunity to work as a team towards a common goal, fostering a sense of both collaboration and leadership amongst the BizKids students. Seeing the kids enhance their passion for entrepreneurship made the apprenticeship a rewarding experience.
BizKids iPhone designs
The students enthusiastically prepared for the WOW event at the end of the semester by designing their own products to be sold in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center on Tuesday, April 28th from 4:00pm to 5:00pm. The profits made from their entrepreneurial efforts will be donated to an entrepreneur of the student’s choosing from Kiva.org. This will give the students a hands-on opportunity to use their newfound knowledge of microfinance and social entrepreneurship and make a difference in the lives of others.
Thanks to everyone in the Northeastern community that was able to come check out the BizKids WOW event and see firsthand all the hard work that the students of Orchard Gardens have put in this semester!
