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Dyett High School first to have Entrepreneur Seminars for students

A partnership with the City, 1871 CEO Howard Tullman, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Chief Education Officer Dr. Janice Jackson recently announced an innovative new program that will provide high school students with lessons on entrepreneurship in technology by prominent local entrepreneurs at Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts in Washington Park.

This new program, a joint initiative of 1871 and CPS, will pilot at Dyett High School this spring, providing students an 8-week seminar on what it takes to become an entrepreneur in the 21st century.

Later this month, 20 freshmen will begin participation in this first-of-its-kind seminar that will give them an opportunity to learn key entrepreneurship principles directly from local entrepreneurs themselves, and to receive personalized mentoring in the process.

The Eagle Entrepreneurs Group is the brainchild of 1871’s Tullman and Dyett’s principal, Beulah McLoyd. It incorporates Dyett’s own Algebra and Entrepreneurship courses, and Tullman’s book “The Perspiration Principles,” based on the principles he’s used at 1871 to help hundreds of entrepreneurs and small businesses to launch and thrive in Chicago since its founding.

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THE MAYOR GETS a firsthand demonstration of the robots created using the Legos as students, teachers and other administrators look on. The Entrepreneurship program is focused on technology and was created in partnership with Chicago’s center for technology and entrepreneurship, 1871. (Photos by Brooke Collins/City of Chicago)

The goal of this partnership is to supplement the school’s arts and tech-focused curriculum by giving students an opportunity to think and solve problems commonly found in today’s growing STEM industries and in the digital age. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in STEM and computer science-related fields are growing faster than any other industry.

“We know that for our students to truly succeed in the 21st century, we have to teach them to think differently,” said Principal McLoyd. “Thanks to 1871 and Howard Tullman, our students will have an opportunity to learn first-hand from experts who have succeeded as entrepreneurs, and to master best practices now so that they can apply those lessons later in college, career and life.

As part of its commitment to delivering technology resources into classrooms throughout the city, CPS is currently working with 1871 to expand this curriculum to other schools this year by adapting Tullman’s lessons into a webcast. Additionally, CPS is working to develop a more advanced curriculum for 10th graders who want to continue to participate next year, which would in turn allow them to serve as mentors to incoming students next year.

“There is no question that Chicago’s students are doing better academically than ever before, which is why we must continue to invest in the tools that will prepare them for postsecondary success,” said Chief Education Officer Jackson. “That’s why Mayor Emanuel and I are committed to providing students the resources needed to succeed in our increasingly specialized and technology-oriented economy and to become the next entrepreneurs and leaders of our great city.”

The course includes evaluation rubrics designed to measure students’ success and ensure that they are mastering the concepts. All student participants and their parents will receive a copy of the core text, Tullman’s “The Perspiration Principles” adapted for Dyett’s students; an “Eagle Entrepreneurs” t-shirt; and an opportunity to continue learning entrepreneurship with a more advanced10th grade curriculum that is currently being developed for next school year.

Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts re-opened earlier this year with a new dual focus on the arts and community innovation lab component, and based on input from the community. The inaugural freshman class of the new Dyett has access to a new state-of-the-art Innovation Technology Lab, allowing teachers to fully integrate technology into instruction, and serving as a technology hub open to the broader community.

 

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