Oakland Independent
January 16, 2014
ClassE offers interactive
lessons on business ownership
By Janice Hunt
OAKLAND – ClassE, a countywide
program that high school seniors enroll in to learn how to be successful
entrepreneurs, held a class at Oakland High School on Friday as part of a
recruiting effort for the next school year.
The presentation was given by
Terri Temples of Oakland and OHS graduate Kathy Cartwright of Charleston, who
have run their business, Vintage Cottage Beauty, for two years.
Temples and Cartwright talked to
a group of students about the challenges and rewards of running their business
and guided them through the process of making their own bath salts soaks and
body scrubs.
Oakland High School students
Maddie Flesner, Luke Nash, Hayden Strader, Tim Smith, Tyler Wright, Coy Cox and
Heidi Dague joined 10 ClassE students from Mattoon and Charleston for the
class.
No Oakland students chose to
enroll in ClassE this year, but the district anticipates having four or five
students participate next year, said Principal Adam Clapp.
“ClassE gives OHS students a
chance to see entrepreneurship at its roots in Coles County,” Clapp said.
“Students are able get out into the business world, meet Coles County business
men and women, and see how local businesses run from the inside out.
“Students get a hands-on,
project-based learning experience where they get to develop their own business
plans, execute the plans, and see how the process compares to other students’
businesses, as well as business plans that are used locally.”
Last year, Michael Strader of
Hindsboro took the class, and after he graduated from OHS in 2013, the
landscaping business he had formed with Colton Anderson of Mattoon went on to
be one of the program's biggest success stories, said ClassE instructor Jeanne
Dau.
Through Strader and Anderson's
business, Right Path Landscaping, they “were quite busy this summer and
couldn't keep up with the calls to help with their landscaping,” Dau said.
Other ClassE graduates have found
success, as well, including Rhydon Vassey of Charleston, who designed a video
game, “Executive Power,” that can be purchased on Amazon.com; and two students
who are working with Rural King to carry a product they have been producing.
At least three students have be
hired at area businesses “because the business owner supported this class and
knew they would be professional,” Dau said.
Most ClassE graduates are still
in college or pursuing military careers, so their entrepreneurial ideas have
been put on hold, she said.
Dau initially taught the class
last year through Eastern Illinois University's Business Solutions Center. This
year, she teaches the class for Eastern Illinois Education for Employment
Systems, which has a business advisory board that raises money and helps with
the class.
Cartwright and Temples said one
reason they like contributing to the program is that they've gotten so much
assistance from Dau's programs for beginning entrepreneurs.
Temples and Cartwright, who have
given presentations for the class for the past two years, said they're happy to
be involved in an effort that could have such an impact on students. They also
enjoy interacting with the students, whom Cartwright said are “just wonderful.”
“I think when they get to do
hands-on projects, seeing what things are really like, it's more helpful than
anything,” Temples said.
“The thing I like about this is
it's really professionally done,” Cartwright said. “They're really getting a
top-notch program. They're getting to talk to people they'd never have gotten
to talk to from throughout the county. I think it just opens their eyes up and
opens their world up.”
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