Through creative, hands-on learning opportunities, afterschool and summer learning programs help children and young people develop the essential skills they need to succeed in school, life, and future careers. This Lights On Afterschool, celebrate the skill-building your program is doing. You might highlight skills such as teamwork, academic achievement, or entrepreneurial mindset activities!

• Host a career fair, with parents and members of your community sharing their jobs with students and hands-on activities demonstrating a project from their fields
• Create a mural, a bake sale, a clean-up event, or another project that combines service learning and teamwork to make a big impact in your community
• Hold a job and interview event like The Great Shake to help your students develop career readiness skills

Who to invite:

Invite families and leaders from your community, region, and state to see how you are preparing youth for the workforce and to contribute to the local economy. They all have a stake in the current and future state of children as students, employees, and citizens, so engage them with an entrepreneurial Lights On experience that will lead to greater interest and involvement.

• Diverse Chambers of Commerce
• Chamber Foundations
• Local Businesses
• Local Economic Development Corporations
• Entrepreneurial incubators and investors
• Small Business governmental organizations
• Banks and financial institutions
• Local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners
• Institutions of higher education (4-year colleges, community colleges, technical colleges, etc.)
• Elected officials (city, county, and local representatives for state and national offices)
• Local workforce development organization
• Local SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) office
• School District (Business Advisory Council, School Board Members, Superintendent)
• Any financial contributors (philanthropists, foundations, etc.)

Entrepreneurship is more than just starting a business. It’s a way of thinking and doing, a mindset, and a set of skills that youth need for success in school right now, in their future careers, and beyond.

An entrepreneurship-focused Lights On event is a strategy for authentically engaging elected officials, schools, businesses, community leaders, and families; they all have a stake in the community's future. They will want to see how students are being prepared for the workforce and contributing to the local economy.

4 easy and fun ideas to build essential skills and engage your community:

• Mindset Scavenger Hunt: Engage students and families as they participate in events with an Entrepreneurial Mindset Scavenger Hunt. Introduce and reinforce vocabulary and language development as elementary students hunt to find someone who can tell them how they’ve used the mindsets. Download the scavenger hunt in English and Spanish.
   
• Mindset Recognition: Have students write thank you letters to staff, family, and community leaders that includes a mindset they see that person using. This is a way to engage and celebrate the entrepreneurial thinking that’s already happening in your existing programs and greater community. Print posters, stickers, and cards here!
   
• Quick Pitch Challenge: Use these quick, interactive activities with staff, students, and/or family to bring fun, laughter, and creativity to a family night or other community engagement event. After groups pitch their idea, have everyone circle the mindsets and skills they used. (HINT: It’s all of them!)
  
  Open Wacky Inventions or Pitch Game and print the Entrepreneurial Mindset and Skills Page.
   
• Culminating Event: Organize a pitch event or youth market (think science fair) to showcase a milestone in a student’s entrepreneurial journey. Youth can pitch an idea or have an actual product or service for sale. Access the YEI Pitch Toolkit.
   

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

VentureLab makes it easy for programs to deliver high-quality entrepreneurial education. Visit the VentureLab website to find their no-cost curriculum, classroom and remote learning resources, and other opportunities to engage students in entrepreneurial learning.

Young Entrepreneur Institute believes that every child should understand and experience entrepreneurship. Their library of no-cost resources helps to engage and enrich students, educators, and the community, helping to build the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

YIPPEE Exchange is a one-stop shop for educators to find curated, zero-cost experiences designed to cultivate entrepreneurial skills and connect students to entrepreneurs in their communities.