Austin High School students benefit from grant

Austin High School students in Adam Gibson’s business foundations class gain hands-on, experiential training on entrepreneurship skills through a new computer program, Virtual Business - Management. The software teaches introduction to business, entrepreneurship, management and supervision. As entrepreneurs starting their own business, students find a location for their business, choose a form of ownership, hire and supervise employees, find and keep customers, and use insurance to manage risk. They also learn to deal with management problems such as labor shortages, strikes, problem employees and industrial accidents.

Gibson received a $4,987 grant from the Scott County Community Foundation to promote 21st century skills, project-based learning and entrepreneurship skills in his accounting and business classes.

“Before implementing Virtual Business-Management into my curriculum, it was very difficult to get my students interested in business concepts,” said Gibson. “We experimented (unsuccessfully) with business planning. The students couldn't comprehend what it would actually take to manage a business, so the planning phase proved difficult. After using Virtual Business-Management for just a short period of time, students gained the ability to not only discuss business concepts, but also the ability to understand how various managerial decisions impacted the bottom-line. Using Virtual Business--Management will definitely help benefit the students as they begin to formulate their own business ideas and plans.”