Building the “Habitual” Entrepreneur

February 28, 2011

“Entrepreneur” is a hot career title for just about any high school student.  And with the popularity of youthful CEO’s leading Facebook, Twitter, Groupon and Linkedin, popular media makes it look easy to create, nurture and fund a business.  They forget to report the hard work, passion, discipline, and business skills required to transform a dream into a profitable reality.

And that’s where schools step in.  Entrepreneurs aren’t typically born — they are nurtured.   And studies indicate that new, project-based curriculums build skills necessary to thrive in global economies that demand leadership, great communication skills, and a quick grasp of both the big picture and the small details.   But where do you find these skill-building schools that imbue an entrepreneurial, collegial attitude?

Come visit Oak Hills High School where innovation and project-based learning are hot disciplines.  In fact, several schools in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois highlight the newest implementation of 21^st century skill and portfolio school curriculums.  For instance, the Oak Hills Local School District creates new opportunities for their students on a daily basis — which is no small feat.  With nine schools, and one of the largest high schools in Ohio (2738 students), Oak Hills Administrators have created a new curriculum that rivals many freshman college programs.

Led by Superintendent Todd Yohey, the Oak Hills Local School District exemplifies how innovation changes lives.  Located in southwestern Ohio, the suburban school district has created a K-12 twenty-first century, project-based learning program called “Habits of Mind.”    Begun at the elementary school level, the Habits of Mind program infuses the State-mandated Core Curriculum Standards with career-ready skills that hinge upon effective teaching of the 4 C’s:  critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.

And the Oak Hills Local School District has the technological infrastructure to support such an innovation-based, project-centric curriculum.  Enlisting the help of parents and community sponsors, Oak Hills is one of the first public school districts in Ohio to welcome the use of outside, student-owned technology in the school. With rising technology costs and decreasing budgets, the school district enjoins parents and students to use their technology within the public school.

Understanding that the strongest education program fully prepares its students beyond high school, the Oak Hills School District has implemented a portfolio program targeting eleventh and twelfth graders called “Programs of Study.”  The Program allows students to “major” in one of four areas and take classroom, virtual or one-on-one classes that satisfy the plan requirements.   Highlighting portfolio subject specialties such as business, international studies, creative and performing arts and STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine), students can delve deep into career, college preparedness, and job opportunities before graduation.

By embedding real-time skills into content-based academic requirements, students obtain the best of both worlds:  project-based learning infused within a core academic curriculum.   And the required Capstone Project mimics the typical masters project, minus the dissertation and defense!

And yes, the voluntary Programs of Study requires extra time, commitment, and dedication among all staff members and students.  The Oak Hills Local School District believes at least 35 percent of the entire eleventh and twelfth grade students will participate in the new, college/career-prep curriculum.

Moreover, the curriculum is one that appeals to more entrepreneurial, less-linear student learning types.  The Oak Hills School District wants to encourage all types of thinking – especially in today’s new innovation, results-driven, economy.  As Yohey noted “more non-traditional students will realize success.”   Typically, the “top 15 percent students know how to ‘play school’ very well, but we also want to capture the learners with entrepreneurial tendencies, who aren’t comfortable in the typical school setting.”

Oak Hills may serve as the bellwether for how to best implement new, content and career-driven curriculums among public schools.   However, its success may hinge upon how the entire community, including a strong parochial school student base, gauges the value.

With a school district small enough to make meaningful 1:1 changes, but large enough to monitor scalable progress, the Oak Hills Local School District has a great chance for success. Clearly, teaching a curriculum based on business principles and self-reliance can only help encourage the “entrepreneurial” habit of mind.   When will we see any measurable results?  Only time will tell.

About the Author

Todd Yohey is the Superintendent of Oak Hills Local School District located just west of Cincinnati OH. Prior to his career as school superintendent, he served as a high school chemistry teacher and currently serves as an adjunct faculty at Wright State University.

To learn more about the initiatives in the Oak Hills Local School District please feel free to contact Todd Yohey at Yohey_t@oakhills.hccanet.org.