It's a message that's getting across to students.
Shawntay Whitney, 17, a rising senior at Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, wants to open a restaurant and catering business to complement her love of cooking.
"They're teaching us things we don't learn in school," she says.
Another student, Quante Samuel, 16, wants to be a doctor with his own practice. Samuel, a rising junior at Polytechnic, says he likes the idea of being his own boss.
A large part of the six-week work program is a business plan contest. Teams of students are competing for a $500 first-place prize and other honors. Students must propose a new business, explain how a product or service the company provides would work, identify competitors, describe how they would finance the venture and outline how it would earn money.
Some business ideas include a virtual dating game and Player's Choice 3000, a multi-platform gaming console.
Mark Brown, 18, who's attending the University of Baltimore in the fall, acknowledged a big hurdle in bringing the console to market: licensing agreements with the dominant players in the gaming industry, such as Sony and Microsoft.
The program also covers lessons in creating a personal budget, balancing a checkbook, multi-tasking and delivering a 30-second sales pitch. The students also get hands-on experience, such as writing a business letter and addressing envelopes, and they're meeting local business leaders.
The class also embarked on field trips, including to the Federal Reserve office in Baltimore and a recent outing to Arundel Golf Park in Glen Burnie. There, the students practiced their swings, while Cross emphasized the importance of networking.
The business plan competition has been serious work for these students, who must not only dream up big ideas but also conduct market research, devise advertising strategies and analyze competitors and customers.
A field trip to West Baltimore's Pennsylvania Avenue, once the hub of black culture and life, spawned a business idea for one team: a historic city tour.
"You go to the Inner Harbor but you don't see the deep history of the city," says Suber, who is working with Whitney and two other students on the project. "It gives you a different outlook of Baltimore."
To distinguish themselves from existing competitors, they decided to create an interactive tour that would include acting students who depict historic characters and provide riddles for guests. The team is still finalizing the various stops along the tour, but they're confident of their chances in the competition.
"Some people are doing products," Suber said. "We thought of something that's doable."
hanah.cho@baltsun.com
