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BRIEF DESCRIPTION
OF PRACTICE
REAL Enterprises
has taken hold in Vermont. During the 2000-2001 academic year, the age approrpiate
REAL curriculum was being taught at 16 high school, 16 middle level, 18 elementary
level, and 2 postsecondary institutions: CCV in Morrisville and the UVM's Department
of Community Development and Applied Economics.
During the 1996 - 2000 summers, Vermont hosted REAL Institutes, both at the elementary/middle
levels and high school/post-secondary levels. A total of 135 teachers and administrators
have been trained in Vermont.
Additionally, 20 instructors attended REAL Workshops during 2000. The workshop topics
included curriculum activities specifically for school-based enterprises and activities
for infusing entrepreneurial skill development into current curriculums.
Entrepreneurs
tend to be innovative, risk-taking, hard-working people who want the benefits and
responsibilities of seeing their good ideas put to use. Mini, Middle and High School/Postsecondary
REAL can help students identify what it means to be entrepreneurial as part of a
family, as citizens in a community, and in developing businesses. These programs
have been aligned to the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities.
- Mini-REAL:
Mini-REAL's primary focus is on the development of mini-communities with functioning
economies. Students, teachers, and others plan the development of the community that
can be implemented at their school site. The Mini-REAL program is designed to empower
students to be responsible citizens through real life experiences. Students become
active citizens and employees in a mini-community that they create. In this way,
students value what they are learning in the classroom because it provides opportunities
to use and make meaningful the skills and information they are acquiring.
- Middle-REAL:
Middle-REAL is designed to serve as a bridge between Mini-REAL at the elementary
level and REAL at the high school level. Middle-REAL seeks to help middle grade students
gain hands-on experience in three areas: being an effective citizen of the school
community; being an effective part of an enterprise; and affecting the broader community
in a positive way (the broader community can comprise the students family, neighborhood,
town, or some segment of the population).
- High School/Postsecondary:
At the high school and postsecondary levels, REAL Enterprises is a course that develops
entrepreneurial talent and guides students through the process of planning, creating,
and operating a small business of their own design. REAL Entrepreneurs across the
country have created a wide variety of successful businesses, including: a ski and
skate sharpening service in Vermont, a pressure-washing company in North Carolina,
and a catering company in Georgia.
CONTACT
For more information
about Vermont Real, contact:
Patti Coultas,
Program Coordinator
Vermont REAL Enterprises
P. O. Box 545 Morrisville
Vermont 05661-0545
Phone: (802)
888-1105
Fax: (802) 888-5734
E-mail: LBETA@together.net
RESOURCES
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