Buzz of the Biz
Imagine this, learners arrive at school and instead of free play they choose to get to work researching, expensing, strategizing, and producing. The 5 minute warning chime dings and multiple learners are unmoved, laser focused, and in deep flow—they can not hear the chime. They need a few taps and kind reminders that morning Launch is starting. Since the Entrepreneurship Quest was introduced on Tuesday this has been daily life at Acton. Learners are barreling into school wanting to talk about their ideas with their business partners or research how to best make their creations. The buzz of being in the biz is swarming!
There is only one Quest that we repeat every year at Acton, Entrepreneurship. You may be wondering why and its simple, idea generation is a skill to develop regularly, entrepreneurship is a muscle. If you aren’t convinced then please let the enthusiasm from second year learners convince you.
Towards the end of Session 2’s Debate session returning learners in Spark and Discovery knew what was coming. No Guide officially announced Session 3’s E-ship Quest but learners knew and they were making plans. Two weeks before the end of Session 2 one learner shared with me “I already know that this year we are going to work together and we’re going to combine both of our passions, my passion for stories and nature and her passion for drawing. We are totally selling out for the fair!”
While greeting learners on Monday I asked them about their Thanksgiving holiday and 3 separate hello’s quickly became questions of “are we starting the business Quest today?” Even more amazing than this excitement is that the enthusiasm of returning learners leaks to new learners, the beauty of community naturally inspiring, teaching, and consulting before we even began the official Tuesday Quest day.
So, how did the second Entrepreneurship Quest’s first week go? From our Guide perspective learners this year have been generating ideas with great speed and taking extreme care and detail to their business plans. They are truly thinking it all out and are flexible and open to feedback.
Here’s the behind the scenes Quest objective: learners have the option to either create an individual business, form a company of business partners, or work as an employee for the Acton art gallery store. The task was to identify passions, find fellow travelers, and identify a need or problem at school or in the world that they want to solve. Passion + Need = Business Idea. Once learners have their idea they flesh out a business idea ticket and apply for investor seed money, $15 owl bucks (per learner) to spend on materials. All money and materials must be from and used in school. In order to enter the Exhibition Business Fair on our last week, learners need 10 or more items or a clear service to provide on site. Over the next 2 and a half weeks they will be exploring prototypes, marketing, pitches, production, and so much more!
A repeat Quest isn’t just fun it provides learners with deeper learning, the opportunity to level up their ideas from last year, and it allows them to share their expertise with first time learners, the true gift of learning—sharing knowledge. Having a great idea is hard but learners already are combining tutu’s and bracelets with inspirational growth mindset sayings, researching healthy garden baked goods, drafting books to educate parents on Acton and kids on space, and even designing stuffy accessories, animal sportswear for kids, and dinosaur puppets!
As your learner is bitten with the business bug how can you buzz too? What are you passionate about? What special skills or talents do you have or are you interested in learning? What needs exist and how can your passion and skills help make a difference? Buzz…buzz…buzz!