Although there is no AP Entrepreneurship class, many CHS students are interested in owning and running their own business, so they have taken to the web to learn. The program from Youth Entrepreneurship Society, or YES!, Launch Academy is an online program for high school students to collaborate and learn about how to cultivate their potential as entrepreneurs and utilize their potential as business leaders.

Students in the program participate in online activities to learn more about entrepreneurship. At the end of the program, the students then get to pitch their actual business ideas to a board.

Sophomore Maria Shapiro is interested in starting a company, so she joined the program in hopes that it would help her with the logistics of entrepreneurship.

According to Shapiro, this “truly great program” taught her new information about having a business.

“Being an entrepreneur is more than just the money and the particular product or service,” Shapiro said. “You need to have a clear mind, a particular mission for society, and be willing to experience many failures before hitting home.”

Freshman Ryan Needle also joined the program to learn more about being an entrepreneur.

“I’ve always had a few ideas of my own, but the hard part is getting money and opinions of others,” Needle said.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, Needle is considering bringing an event like the TV show “Shark Tank” to CHS.  Shark Tank is a show in which businesspeople pitch their ideas to wealthy investors in hopes that at least one investor will finance their ideas and give them business advice. Needle wants a similar situation to occur at CHS, in which students pitch their ideas to a board that will give them advice and funding, potentially.

According to Needle, he knows of students who have business ideas, and he believes that they will benefit from this event.

“It’s good for students to get their ideas out there, and it will inspire others to also think of ideas,” Needle said.

As a start, Needle sent out a survey to gauge the amount of students who would be interested in this event, and received encouraging results.  He also prepared a proposal of what the event will entail.

Needle believes that more CHS students should be involved with entrepreneurship.

“It’s better to start at a young age,” Needle said. “With how smart students are at CHS, there is the potential for great things to happen.”