Teaching Students to Think Like Entrepreneurs

BUILD helps young people in disadvantaged communities to tap into the transformative power of business skills.

In his unique business class at McKeesport Area High School, Colin Scharritter didn’t have to listen to long lectures and take notes. Nor was he required to memorize vocabulary words from a textbook.?

Instead, the 17-year-old was encouraged to think like an entrepreneur—by identifying?a problem, devising a solution, and then creating a pitch. So Scharritter came up with creative ways to bring positive attention to the city of McKeesport, his hometown that often gets a bad rap.?

“It was fun to just let our creativity run, but we also had guidance,” said Amyca Wilson, 16, a sophomore and classmate in the novel business program at McKeesport Area?High School. The guidance came through?a program called BUILD, which teaches?the “entrepreneurial mindset and?21st-century skills” to students in dis-advantaged communities.?

The Richard King Mellon Foundation awarded $1.2 million to BUILD in 2021 to expand its programs to the Greater Pittsburgh Area and to economically disadvantaged schools. The nonprofit trains teachers, who in turn guide students through projects that incorporate skills including communication, collaboration, problem-solving, grit, self-management, and innovation. They call these Spark Skills. In addition to teaching those skills, the program is designed to keep students engaged in school and increase graduation rates in lower socioeconomic communities.

In the two-semester program, students establish their own businesses, design and produce products, and make money by selling them. They also pitch their ideas in?a national competition. “Kids have come up with everything from T-shirts for social justice issues to backpacks with an outdoor light on it,” said Brian Costanzo, national director of school and community partnerships at BUILD.?

McKeesport used a one-semester BUILD Design Challenge program that allows students to generate ideas about ways to help a person or community with a problem and?develop a written proposal. BUILD trained Jill Hershey, a business and technology teacher at McKeesport, who had the temperament to successfully lead the project. “You need a flexible, caring, and relaxed teacher who can facilitate instead of speaking in front of the class,” Costanzo said.?

Scharritter was in a group that picked the City of McKeesport as its client. They had to create solutions to revitalize the city while boosting the spirits of its residents.

A football player who is going to Duquesne University next year, Scharritter proposed reaching out to famous athletes who grew up in McKeesport, including Branden Jackson, a defensive end who played for the Seattle Seahawks, and Swin Cash, a WNBA star.

The hometown heroes would be asked to return to McKeesport for community days, with proceeds going to repairing sports fields and other improvements in town. Though they didn’t have time to implement their ideas, they wrote up a proposal.?

Scharritter’s experience with the BUILD program has reinforced his plans to major?in business.?

Amyca Wilson and her teammate, Aliyah McClung, 17, enjoyed collaborating on the project, even though they had to negotiate around which ideas to use. Their final proposal to raise funds for another city included a community day with a kickball game, a food bank drive, and enlisting?a corporate sponsor.

Wilson, who loves math, wants to go into business, possibly to become a financial analyst. McClung plans to study nursing. They are not sure whether they will become entrepreneurs, but they know they can use those soft skills from the program in any field.

“Problem-solving skills are essential life skills, useful in the workplace and in one’s personal life,” Hershey said. “I think that is the most important take-away they can have from their time with BUILD.”