Frustration To Fruition
Club Start-Up provides opportunities, but participants aren't seizing them...yet.
As you know, I have been a volunteer facilitator with Jeanne Dau’s Club Start-Up at a Chicago nonprofit. We are half-way through the program, which attempts to teach middle school and junior high students the steps to becoming an entrepreneur.
We have taught how to choose what type of business to start through interests, talents, or hobbies; we have taught how to narrow the focus to choose only one idea to create a business around; we have taught how to create a business plan; and, we have taught how to create a budget with start-up costs dependent upon whether their business will be a product or service. This week, our focus will be on marketing.
I keep using the words “we have taught,” because I’m unsure how much the club members have learned yet. Learning something new requires an open mind, a positive attitude, and intrinsic motivation. From what I see each week, the majority attend begrudgingly to receive extrinsic motivation—cash provided by the nonprofit.
Here are the quandaries: When dealing with students from impoverished backgrounds living in the projects, is there a way for a club like Jeanne’s to succeed without members being paid? Wouldn’t it be better to have three club members who want to be there, rather than fifteen who are only there for money? Or, is there a possibility that even the cantankerous participants will have a burst of inspiration, look forward to attending, and produce while getting paid?
It’s a pity that these questions need to be raised at all. The ideal is that clubs, whether provided after school or in a nonprofit, should gather those with common interests. But the reality is that there are other reasons to join clubs. Maybe, you just want to hang out with the friends that roped you into joining. There may be really good snacks in French Club. Perhaps, you hope to meet your significant other. Each are like prizes for attending. However, once a person commits to join an after-school activity, it’s their responsibility to participate not disrupt.
Club Start-Up has had lots of disruption. But even the most offensive members get numerous chances, which is out of my control.
Other than behaviors, the most difficult component we have faced (thus far) deals with kids learning how to create a budget, decide the prices for their product or service, and research their competition.
They, first, need to understand the questions posed, requiring reading comprehension. Then, they need to understand basic math. Both are sorely lacking even with the written examples already provided by the program. Budgets should have been completed three weeks ago, but most are still struggling. No teacher worth their salt would just walk away without the kids actually learning what they need to know before moving forward. Like Churchill, I will never give in and have a new approach ready.
The lack of skills required to graduate in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is certainly a mountain not a hurdle. On the other end of the spectrum, the kids’ apathy is an entirely different kettle of fish. When faced with even minor obstacles, our members tend to give up quickly or expect an adult to complete things for them. They lack patience and follow-through. And, it leaves me wondering what is allowed in CPS classrooms and at home.
Over my second glass of wine after last week’s debacle, I tried to dig deep and understand why our members are so combative. The only conclusion I could muster is that they must realize their ignorance in reading comprehension and math, which causes them to feel stupid. No pre-teen or teenager likes to feel stupid. Thus, instead of acknowledging they need help, they lash out.
Moreover, they live in a retail and grocery store desert. There are no jobs on display around them. There’s a great cost to living in a high-crime community where businesses have closed their doors. The violence and theft of some create ripple effects for all.
Our mission was that through Jeanne’s program, a lightbulb would start blinking. The club members would start to see causal relationships between consumers and businesses, clients and banks, money and its growth or depletion, etc. But for all of the benefits Club Start-Up provides, the participants haven’t seized its opportunities.
And that is the main root of my frustration. The life stories of Dr. Ben Carson, Condoleezza Rice, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, or Chicago’s own Pastor Corey Brooks haven’t inspired a belief in something better. Camp Start-Up being done for the first time in Chicago was meant to provide a way forward for those who claim there is none. It was meant to encourage and support those who desperately need it most.
No doubt, Dau Consulting will continue to succeed. Jeanne’s program is being picked up in various places in and around Effingham, Illinois. Working in Chicago was a pilot program to understand the differing needs of students in urban settings and make adjustments accordingly. Jeanne is a positive person, so I expect she will forge ahead and try to make inroads in other areas of Chicago and its suburbs sometime in the future.
As for me, I could easily shut this down now but won’t. No, it’s not due to a savior complex. Instead, it’s due to the fact that too many give up on kids in inner cities. Complaining about the obvious is easy. Putting in the time to try to make changes is not. But, I refuse to sugarcoat it. To say that I am dismayed and utterly miffed is an understatement.
With the ridiculously low expectations of the CPS system, a judicial system that allows criminals back on the streets, a lack of parental involvement and structure, and Chicago’s black politicians failing on their promises, it’s no wonder our kids are merely surviving. It must be hell living in the projects. Listing impediments, however, doesn’t exempt individuals from grabbing life lines when presented. If it’s hell on earth, then take advantage of those who are willing to show you a way out. Who knows if this program will be provided again? To see our members squander this opportunity makes me want to shake them.
For now, we soldier on. There are four more sessions to go before they present their business proposals to the community. At this point, we can name five who have put in the effort to present a quality product or service. It’s not nearly what we projected, but we aren’t throwing in the towel.
Stay tuned…
You are a Saint to to do this. A true teacher!
You are an inspiration as well as a Saint Erin. It doesn't sound like an endeavor for the faint hearted. Your desire to teach SHINES brightly.