GEORGETOWN — High school entrepreneurship teacher Lisa Ryer has just returned from a conference sponsored by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education with plenty of ideas to improve the quality of the business program at the middle/high school.
Ryer won a full scholarship to the conference in Norfolk, Va., as well as recognition for outstanding leadership in the field of business creativity and entrepreneurship.
The conference was held the first weekend in November, and Ryer said she learned from people at all levels of education, from elementary school through college.
"One great example was a school in western Massachusetts where students came up with a plan to have the forestry students cut down trees, the woodworking students make baseball bats, and the business students came up with a marketing and business plan to sell the bats. They also came up with a forest sustainability plan," she said. "It's that kind of across-the-curriculum work I'd like to work on here."
Ryer is new to the staff this year as part of the School Department's commitment to teaching students about business, fiscal responsibility and innovation in the workplace.
"Students will someday be in the work force. My goal is to give them tools to use in college and beyond," she said.
Georgetown schools are a forerunner in the area of business education, Ryer said.
"We are the only school I know of in the area with financial literacy as a requirement for graduation," she said. "We hope to expand the entrepreneurial focus as well."
All children are natural entrepreneurs, Ryer said.
"Children come up with great ideas; they want to have lemonade stands to earn money. This tends to go away as they get the thought that their ideas won't work or are impractical. My job is to teach my high-schoolers not to censor themselves."
She does this by bringing Legos and Play-Doh into the classroom and allowing students to be creative.
"They love it," she said.
The program is not all play, however. Ryer's students are currently working on creating a business plan, complete with financials and a marketing plan for a business idea of their own choosing.
"This is something most students don't do until college. Their plans have to be in-depth and feasible. We also researched great entrepreneurs, like Henry Ford and Bill Gates, to learn how they came up with ideas," she said.
Ryer has also brought the DECA program to the high school this year. DECA is a nationwide entrepreneurship competition, with local, state and national competitions designed to get students to be creative in their business planning.
"We are competing on Dec. 16 at the Sheraton Ferncroft (in Danvers). If we win, we'll compete at the state competition in Boston. From there, we could go to nationals," she said. "It's a great program, because the kids bring what they learn in the classroom into real life."
Even if students don't all go on to run their own businesses, Ryer thinks it's important to understand how businesses work. "Everyone will work someday, and whether you sign your own paycheck or someone else does, it's important to have business skills."
She is hopeful there will be funding to expand the business and entrepreneurship programs in the coming years. "With the economy so uncertain, students really need a grasp of how money and businesses operate to ensure future success. I want to give them the skills they need for their futures."
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