CTC project gives students entrepreneur training

Junior and senior high school students enrolled in the Business Technology program at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center have stepped into the world of entrepreneurship. After contemplating what type of business they would undertake, they settled on a coffee cart from which they would serve Kaldi's coffee.

We are becoming increasingly aware that educating students involves more than giving them a book to browse and a test to take. Quality education tends to the whole person. It prepares students for the next level of academia, and for life beyond high school.

Students were required to engage their intellects by conducting research, their physical ability by building a coffee cart with a woodworking and cabinetry class and their advertising instincts by collaborating with the marketing class to design a logo. They will reap the benefits of their hard work, as all proceeds from coffee sales will go to finance student trips.

This is what it is all about, is it not? Youngsters receive the tools they need to succeed inside and outside the classroom. Anything less is not a full education. The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center's Business Technology program obviously recognizes this and has created an opportunity for this type of development.

As we recently reported, the mission is to help "students learn more about entrepreneurship, hospitality and management through hands-on experiences." That mission is being accomplished, according to high school senior James Fullenwider, who said, "I plan on being an entrepreneur myself when I get out of high school, so this is a good opportunity for me to have this type of experience."

Sure, students learn from books, but nothing replaces taking what is in those books and applying it. That is the opportunity this program grants. "We've learned so much together as a class," said instructor Amber Prasanphanich, adding, "I think it's going to be more beneficial than just reading a chapter in a book and taking a quiz." This is precisely the point.

In an economy dominated by small businesses, allowing students to offer products in which people are interested, present those products in a way that garners interest and price those products fairly yet profitably opens doors for valuable entrepreneurial experience.

We think it's wonderful that the Business Technology program and the students involved are putting America's favorite morning beverage to work in such a meaningful way.