Curriculum & Field Trips

Whatever teens want to do—whether it's joining a business, starting their own business, running a non-profit, or even being an artist or academic—we believe they need to develop three essential types of skills: entrepreneurial skills, financial skills, and leadership skills. Our experiential curriculum focuses on these three core areas.

Entrepreneurial Skills

• The basic components of a business and how they fit together.
• The language and culture of business.
• How to originate an idea for a business and develop a business plan to implement it.
• How to translate ideas into action through research and planning.How to use the internet and social networks to get the resources and information to build businesses.

Financial Skills

• How to balance lifestyle with income.
• How to identify short- and long-term financial goals and how to save and invest to meet them.
• How entrepreneurs and investors can orient themselves to something other than profit, including an exploration of social responsibility at the "slow" money movement.
• How to research favorite companies by reading the financial pages, websites, and annual reports. (MA Session)
• How to create a balanced, high performing portfolio. (MA Session)
• How to select the right combination of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to match goals, time frame, and risk tolerance. (MA Session)
• How to combine consumer savvy and knowledge of future trends with the fundamentals of stock analysis to select investments to weather bull and bear markets. (MA Session)
• How to track investments online. (MA Session)

Leadership Skills

• How to understand your own strengths, learning style, and motivation.
• How to work effectively in a diverse group and recognize others' strengths, styles, and motivations.
• How to problem solve and make decisions in teams.
• How to make an effective presentation.
• How to resolve conflicts and reach win/win solutions.
• How to carry oneself (dress, etiquette, correspondence, etc) to make the best impression in the business world.

Field Trips

To help teens get these skills, we combine our experiential learning with behind the scenes visits to great companies and non-profits and talk with the people who run them. Here's what teens can expect this summer:

As they explore local and sustainable business models, New York campers will visit The Community Store in Saranac Lake and hear how the founders started the state's first ever community owned department store.

Massachusetts campers will go behind the scenes with granola maker New England Natural Bakers with founder John Broucek. Broucek founded the company when he was just 25. He'll share insights on the health food industry, social and environmental responsibility, and what qualities young entrepreneurs need.

Look for more field trip announcements in the coming months here and on the Independent Means blog.

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