Y.E.S. for Arkansas is a statewide business plan competition where students in grades 5-8 showcase their creativity, intuition, and innovation. The competition is designed to encourage Arkansas’ students to act upon their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow’s businesses.
This approach encourages students to apply what they learn in school to a real world setting.
The competition was initiated in 2005 as a collaborative project for middle school students. Since then, a total of 1315 students
(grades 5-8) representing 38 schools have participated and over $21,500
in cash has been awarded. Y.E.S is managed by the Arkansas Economic
Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), an affiliate of Arkansas Capital
Corporation.
Why entrepreneurship?
The focus of the Y.E.S. competition is to provide students with a
program in which they can develop and enhance their entrepreneurship
attributes. In short, Y.E.S. is meant to be an experiential enhancement
for entrepreneurship education that exists within Arkansas.
According to Entrepreneurship Everywhere report by the
Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, entrepreneurship
education does not just contribute to new business starts. The benefits
of entrepreneurship education include:
Improved Student Performance.
Students in entrepreneurship education programs show improved school performance and
more ambitious goals for life after school. Studies from Philadelphia’s
high school system show that at-risk students enrolled in
entrepreneurship education have better attendance, have higher grades in
Math and English, and are more likely to graduate.
Upgraded School Performance.
By improving student performance, entrepreneurship education can
contribute to improving the overall quality of America’s schools. At
the most basic level, students enrolled in these courses are less likely
to be truant or drop out of school. Educators are also finding that
entrepreneurship training encourages youth to employ sophisticated math
and science concepts in real-life situations, leading to greater
interest and improved performance in math and science.
Enhanced Economic Competitiveness.
Individuals that receive entrepreneurship training (at all ages) are more likely to
start a business, and most importantly to sustain and grow a business.
It is these companies that will be the cornerstone of future economic
growth, job creation, and wealth generation.
The full report: Entrepreneurship Everywhere: The Case for
Entrepreneurship Education [ download ]
