The school district in Burns Lake is preparing a series of programs that are meant to help foster economic opportunities in the north by preparing young people for careers as entrepreneurs.
The career-focussed initiatives are meant to open doors for students while generating economic activity that will keep young people in northern B.C. or bring them back if they go away to pursue higher education, said Sagar Saxena, Community Engagement and Partnerships Officer with School District 91.
“It’s all around youth retention,” he said.
One project, called YELL — short for Young Entrepreneur Leadership Launched — is focussed on getting students started in the world of e-commerce and other business ventures. Students may soon be able to get dual credit for YELL that will go towards studies at a post-secondary institution, he said, noting that this arrangement is still in development.
The program will be based at Lakes District Secondary School but will be available to students in other communities — including Fort St. James, Fraser Lake and Vanderhoof — who will be able to participate through video link, said Saxena.
Students in the YELL program, which is slated to begin this fall, will have an opportunity to work with mentors from local businesses to help them develop their ideas into commercial venture, he said.
“They will share all the tools and processes involved within that ideation to commercialization phase,” he said.
These students will also have the change to participate in a competition called the Venture Challenge. It involves pitching business ideas to a panel of judges, including businesspeople and investors, with the winner proceeding to a provincial competition.
It sounds a lot like the CBC show Dragons’ Den, but Saxena said it’s more geared towards learning skills than getting investors for a start-up.
“It’s more creating that entrepreneurial mindset, instead of asking them to start a business right after their grade 12.”
The efforts are being bankrolled by Rio Tinto, the mining company, which has pledged $90,000 over the course of three years. The money will also help fund a conference called the I-Cubed Summit, which was launched last year and focussed on inspiring students to look beyond traditional industries to achieve success, Saxena said.
Saxena said that money from partners such as Rio Tinto allows the school district to launch new initiatives that they wouldn’t be able to pursue otherwise. “We have limited resources,” he said. Asked if the company will be able to influence the curriculum, he said no.
Lianne Olson, a communications and communities advisor for Rio Tinto, said the partnership with the school district helps to enhance innovation and develop the workforce through a focus on science, technology, engineering and math.
“It is programs like the ones School District 91 offers that will help build and prepare the future workforce for Rio Tinto and other industry partners,” she said in an email. Olson added that the programs enhance opportunities for students, helping them stay in school and recognize potential careers.
The above information has been changed to reflect the fact that plans are still in development for dual credit with a post-secondary institution. The Lakes District News apologizes for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.
