CTE students participate in small-biz program

The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is a non profit organization that teaches the basics of "how to start and operate your own small business." The program is a pilot program at CTE Leominster High School taught by Mrs. Robin Monaco and Mrs. Melissa Blanchard. Both teachers were sent to Babson College last summer to learn about the program and become certified to teach it. Mrs. Blanchard is the Plumbing instructor, and Mrs. Monaco is the Graphic Design/Communications instructor at CTE. Both women have operated their own small businesses before becoming teachers, which constituted them to be able to teach the program. The NFTE class is taught during the junior week shop time for the students once a day for 72 minutes. In that short period of time, the junior students learn all about the basics of starting and operating a business of their interest or choice.

Students are required at the end of semester to do a Power Point presentation on their business of interest and go to New York City where they purchase items in the mercantile district. The NFTE program "loans" them $50.00 to spend on any items that the student feels will sell when he/she returns to school. Whatever profit they make, they can keep, but the original "loan" of $50.00 goes back to the NFTE program. A binding contract is drawn up for this and the student must sign it, just as if they were borrowing money from a local bank to start their business.

This is what the students did on January 12th of this year and the photos demonstrate the students selling their wares to other classmates during lunchtime. This was the first sale ever of the wares that the students bought from New York City, and it was quite successful! Some students actually more than doubled their profits from the original $50.00 loaned to them. The lessons of good business practice was employed from marketing themselves and their goods, to the actual purchasing and selling of the goods to gain a profit. One student was quoted as saying, "I have never done so much Math in my head!"

Even if the student does not go on to start his/her own small business, they have the basics of good business practices to fall back on. This is an important to have and gives the student the competitive edge they need in the working world. All in all, the NFTE class has been a very good experience for the students as well as the instructors. Hopefully, the program will stay and be available to other students in the future.