GEAR UP & NFTE

GEAR UP Kentucky and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship have teamed up to conduct after-school programs that enhance students' skills in mathematics and economics through hands-on entrepreneurship training. Over 700 eighth and ninth-graders in nine GEAR UP Kentucky schools participate in the project:

Bowling Green Jr. High
Broadway Elementary
Eminence Middle School
Estill County Middle School
Meyzeek Middle School
Morgan County Middle School
Second Street School
West Carter Middle School
Whitley County Middle School

NFTE students receive 50-100 hours of after-school instruction in the fundamentals of creating and running a business, raising and investing capital, managing a budget, and writing a business plan. Students also learn about college majors related to entrepreneurship, such as business and marketing.

Each year, NFTE students create a PowerPoint presentation to compete in their regional business plan competition. Winners advance to the statewide competition to vie for the national "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" title.

Andrea Richardson, now a student at Bowling Green High School, was selected as one of eleven young entrepreneurs of the year in 2003. She and her father received an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to attend the awards ceremony. Aaron Richards, now a student at West Carter High School, was a runner-up in the 2004 national competition.

The National Foundation for Teaching entrepreneurship is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to teach entrepreneurship to low-income young people ages 11 through 18 so they can become economically productive members of society by improving their academic, business, technology, and life skills. NFTE is headquartered in New York City. The organization reached over 17,000 young people in 2003 and has trained teachers and youth workers in 44 states and 16 countries.