Students in the Creative Entrepreneurship Class at Columbiana High School partnered with a local business to develop marketing plans to help the business grow.
Mega Barre Youngstown’s Co-Owner, Laura Zavadil, wants to attract more male clients to her fitness classes. Students worked on ways to do this, but also presented Zavadil with other ways to grow her small business.
“We came up with different strategies to create community within the gym and outside the gym, whether it’s with physical activity or creating bonds, and that’s what keeps people motivated,” said Faith Burr, Senior at Columbiana High School.
Three student groups presented to Zavadil, each team had three CHS students on it. Before their presentations, students visited Mega Barre Youngstown’s new facility, and talked with Zavadil, learning her needs as a small business owner. Students spent three weeks working on their presentations, which had to include research to back up their statements. Creative Entrepreneurship Teacher, Tricia Missos, instructed students to take ownership of their presentations, and was not able to guide students with topics.
“I took every single word away. I was really blown away by their ideas, by their thorough research,” said Zavadil. “I wasn’t expecting them to dig that deep into some of this, as far as what clients are motivated by.”
“It really helped us see in a business eye how hard it is to run a business,” said Carter Pasco, Senior at Columbiana High School.
One group presented on the importance of having a strong social media presence, something Zavadil admits, she needs help with. “I do think I might want to hire one or two of them to be interns for me to help me with social media,” she said.
Partnering with local business and coming up with a plan to address a specific issue for a business is part of Wildfire Education, a program Columbiana High School started last school year. Doris Korda is the founder of Wildfire Education, and came to CHS when students did their first business presentation last spring. Her method, the Korda Method, teaches students in a different way. “Where students gain depth of knowledge, so deep learning and develop skills while solving a real problem that involves someone in the community on teams,” said Doris Korda, Founder of the Korda Method.
The Creative Entrepreneurship Class is in the process of identifying another local business to partner with this school year. In the meantime, students said they learned a lot from this project.
“Learned how important teamwork is, how community does work,and how everything revolves around community,” said Burr.