NEW YORK, USA – Young Entrepreneur Scholars, an innovative new learning program created by high school junior Kailey Perkins, is helping children discover their business side through cooking, cupcakes, teamwork, and fun. Kailey, 17, cooked up the program to give middle school kids in underserved New York communities a taste of what is involved in entrepreneurship by starting a bakeshop filled with delicious goodies.
Kailey, who attends The Chapin School, says motivating children has been easy despite the pandemic. “When you offer fun activities, like starting a bakery, kids are open to learning anything, even fractions,” she laughed. “We’re proud that 250 students have completed both our ‘in person’ program and virtual sessions during the pandemic.”
Giving back is not new for Kailey, who was volunteering to assist the elderly at 10-years-old. “With the support of my mom (Leslie), charitable work has always been super important to me.” Which is why she began thinking about starting her own non-profit. “I didn’t know what type of charity I wanted to organize, then it struck me. I loved to bake and work with children, so why not combine baking with some key ingredients needed to start a new business.”
Kailey threw herself into the project, developing a fun, interactive, team curriculum covering a variety of topics, including brainstorming, logo creation, pricing, advertising, community public relations and market research, plus a dash of math to calculate bakery costs.
Next, she created and assembled colorful totes with generous portions of supplies needed for a bakery start-up, including opportunities for creative expression; a chef’s apron ready for decorating, fabric magic markers, a bountiful supply of stickers, packages of icing and food coloring, homemade sugar cookies, candies and sprinkles for decorating. Every child also receives a Young Entrepreneur Scholars Certificate of Completion and a surprise gift.
While Young Entrepreneur Scholars focuses on underserved communities, Kailey has also been invited to teach the program as part of other organizations’ educational offerings, including Southampton Fresh Air Fund, Little Flowers, and Encourage Kids. Here’s a sample of the feedback she’s been getting: “The kids enjoyed the activities so much that all they talked about was about the designs on their aprons and whose cookies looked and tasted the best, and two members are interested in opening their own business.”
Kailey says that Young Entrepreneur Scholars is poised for continued growth. “It means so much to see children having fun working together and learning on Zoom, so we’ll be continuing the program throughout the school year. We may even start sending totes to various organizations nationwide and conducting our sessions virtually.”
She added that when normalcy returns to New York, “We’ll go back to teaching students how to bake in person, holding bake sales and participating in community activities. For now, we’re thrilled that we can contribute to a child’s education and enjoyment despite COVID-19.”
