I-OWN Program

I-Own is a middle school entrepreneurial program offered to students as an elective during the school day, a Saturday morning program, and/or a five-week summer course.

The I-Own program offers students a unique project based learning and hands-on experiences with interdisciplinary study. Students in the I-Own program create their own product, business plan, business logo and slogan, marketing strategy, and goals for philanthropic effort.

Throughout the course of the class students will work to create a product that is either new or an improvement on an existing product. Students create a working prototype of the product and sample its success, after working out any disadvantages of the prototype, students create a final product. Students will then create an inventory of products that they will sell at marketing events held by the I-Own program. Students are challenged to create eco-friendly products that are also part of a philanthropic effort, so that students, the environment, and the cause of their choice all benefit equally from the students sales. Money management, budgeting, and spending skills are also reviewed and assessed when students make sales.

Students also create business plans for their product. The business plan requires students to identify the need their product fulfills. They also have to analyze the market for their product. Students complete a market analysis that allows them to utilize math and community study-skills to identify how many people they will be marketing their product to. The business plan also requires students to evaluate their unit price and profit index. Students practice and present their business plans to various other students, teachers, community leaders, and business owners. Students are provided various venues to participate in business plan presentation competitions where they are awarded monetary prizes that will help them build and maintain their business.