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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Thomas Simpson School is set to pilot a two-part entrepreneurship program that will give students not only business knowledge but the chance to grow their own start-up companies.

Jim Broomfield will be teaching the new entrepreneurship program at Thomas Simpson School. The course will be the first business class offered at TSS and will teach students how to put together a business plan, among other skills. - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo

The program is part of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, which was started in 2008 to help provide aboriginal Canadians with tools for success.

Jim Broomfield, who will be teaching the course, said he feels the program will be an important addition to the institution.

"It's the first business course that's being offered at the school so it opens up a whole new subject area that (students) just haven't had access to at this point," Broomfield said.

Accounting and marketing

Youth will learn about accounting, marketing, business mathematics and information and communications technology. The subject will be taught using case studies based on aboriginal businesses and through hands on experience.

"This course is going to be different for the students in that they are going to spend a fair bit of time outside class," said Broomfield.

In the Grade 11 class, students will visit a business and put together a business plan. Then in Grade 12 they will take that plan – or a different one – and create a webpage, he said.

Students will also have a chance to qualify for $500 in start-up money to implement their plan.

The first part of the entrepreneurship program will be open to Grade 11 students following the Christmas break. Broomfield said seven youth have already expressed an interest in joining. A maximum of 12 students will be accepted and those youth will be able to continue the second part of the program during the next school year.

In the coming months, Broomfield intends to reach out to the community to find mentors who will work with the students and help them grow their business idea.

Also, although the course is being sponsored by the MAEI and Enbridge, Broomfield said the school will need some financial help from the community.

"We are going to need laptops to make the program successful because a lot of it is word processing, spread sheet work, online Internet work and right now our systems are a little dated here in the school. And laptops of course being portable, students will be able to take them home and work on their projects, their plans outside the normal school day," he said.

The Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship project has seen success in schools across Canada, including in institutions in Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta. However, this is the first time the course will be offered at a school in the NWT.

Broomfield said he hopes the course will introduce students to new possibilities.

"Everybody needs to have some understanding of how business operates, how money is calculated, the profit, loss all of those types of things that until now they haven't been thinking of or even been exposed to," he said. "They may not all become entrepreneurs but it may open their eyes to accounting courses, it may open to consulting, to be able to do different things for other people or even just become more aware of what's available for them out in the larger world."

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