Your child has completed or will soon be completing the five units of Enterprise Village curriculum at school. If you have not received details regarding this upcoming trip to the Gus A. Stavros Institute please contact your child's classroom teacher for information. Hopefully, you can share some of the excitement your child is feeling.

All students will apply for and receive a job at Enterprise Village. They will work in business teams, practicing teamwork skills they have explored in the classroom. Teams will spend time brainstorming the characteristics of a good business and discussing “best practices” to help guide their efforts as they operate their own businesses very soon at Enterprise Village.

Some students are surprised by how many costs are involved in running a business, such as healthcare, advertising, salaries, supplies, utilities, etc. At Enterprise Village, business teams apply for a business loan to cover these initial costs. Then, employees seek to pay it off before returning to school. Citizens learn that a promissory note is a promise to repay a loan within a certain time period.

How will they pay off their loans? Most citizens will work in businesses that sell products (i.e. goods or services); therefore, they will seek a selling price that can generate enough revenue to allow for a profit. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. That is the heart of experimental learning simulations such as Enterprise Village. Students make choices and are able to live out the consequences in a safe environment. Be sure to ask your child if his or her business repaid its loan on time.

EV-TALK!

Ask your child:

About their job and responsibilities
The advertisement your child’s team created, and share some of your favorite ads and slogans
What does it mean to make a profit
Share with your child how you pay bills or buy items

Volunteer

For more information about how to volunteer, contact your child's classroom teacher or your school's Family and Community Liaison.