The business world is not all briefcases and button downs. It’s about brainstorming, budgeting, product design, marketing, finance and hard work.
Students will be given the opportunity to experience those real-world components in iCreate 360, a new class next year. They will learn how to develop an idea, create a business plan and market an item to achieve a profit. Each year they will make a new product, their first mission will be manufacturing a surfboard.
Business and technology teacher Chad Jettner was one of the masterminds behind the program. Almost two years ago, assistant principal Mike Roberson and physical education teacher Derek Warner introduced him to surfing. Jettner was inspired to build his own surfboard after Roberson disclosed that he had built almost a dozen of his own. Jettner became curious as to how feasible the construction process would be for students.
Technical education teacher Jeremy Case is also a large part of iCreate 360. He will be responsible for helping students produce their surfboard.
“iCreate 360 is a game changer to me,” Case said. “It’s three classes all merged into one. The focus is not necessarily on the product that we will create, but on the whole process.”
Jettner shared that they have been interested in starting a cross-curricular class for a couple of years. The new course is based on a class offered at Forest Hills Eastern.
“They have a product design course where they make surfboards, skateboards and snowboards and work with their outdoor education class,” Jettner said. “That idea kind of jived with what we wanted to do, but we took it a step forward.”
Jettner and Case will be working together, implementing their personal expertise in each of the different areas.
“In marketing, my particular area, I’m going to take (students) through that process on how to setup a business; branding their company; logo development; colors- all of the things that go into creating an identity as a corporation,” Jettner said.
There will be 96 students in every hour that the class is offered. They will be separated into groups of 24, rotating between teachers daily. Eventually they will be divided into clusters of four, each team creating their own fictitious surfboard company.
As an accounting teacher, Diane Mahacek is the third part of the equation, assisting students with the financial aspect of their business. Students can also earn a half of a required math credit through iCreate 360.
“They’ll be learning a little bit of accounting, a little bit of budgeting, we’re going to be keeping track of all of our expenses when we buy the materials for the boards,” Mahacek said.
The needed materials will come from both local and out-of-state suppliers, such as Greenlight Surf Supply in New Jersey.
Additionally, there will be an online portion students are required to complete. Twice a week, they will be allowed to work away from school, representing a college course. They are recommended to use this time collaborating with their group, creating a business plan via Google Drive.
“Most students at the collegiate level will take an online course,” Jettner said. “We thought that this would be a great opportunity for students to get their feet wet, because it’s not a total online class, but it’s an online component for them to see how it feels.”
Besides the opportunity for students to get a sense for modern educational techniques, iCreate 360 ables them to apply what they will be learning and making to today’s market.
“I think as teachers so often our biggest challenge is convincing students that what they’re learning is relevant and that it’s real world and that they can apply it outside the classroom,” Jettner said. “We’ve felt that this project does exactly that. I can teach marketing, but now you’re actually going to use it and in a real world way that I think is interesting to students.”
Case mentioned that the teachers need to sell the course’s concept around the community to gain startup capital and the amount of funds crucial for the class.
“There’s no budget to buy all of the supplies for this first year,” Jettner said. “Once we sell the boards, it will support the next year. But the first time we are going out looking for sponsors to help support that.”
Currently, students who register for iCreate 360 will not have to pay a joining fee. Jettner believes that because the course represents business, local companies would see the benefit in supporting its first run.
“It’s not just coming up with the marketing and the accounting, there’s a full circle which is one reason why we chose the concept iCreate- you are creating a business, a product and the whole process,” Jettner said. “But 360 means the whole thing, the whole circle of elements that come into play when businesses decide to make or sell something. There are lots of little parts to the whole that I think a lot of students never get the chance to see and we thought this would be a great opportunity for that to happen.”
