{"id":19365,"date":"2025-06-27T15:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/19365\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T15:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:15:10","slug":"these-staten-island-teens-are-running-their-own-business-while-still-in-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/19365\/","title":{"rendered":"These Staten Island teens are running their own business while still in high school"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 For the past several years, a group of students at Susan Wagner High School has been operating a small business. The culmination of long hours, field trips and lots of classroom learning, the smallish virtual bakery enterprise was formed after its owners took several courses in finance, learned about break-even analysis and marketed their well-thought plan to local business owners. It\u2019s a study in entrepreneurship that has undoubtedly changed their lives. <\/p>\n

\u201cI came into high school very shy, not talkative, bad at public speaking,\u201d said Liam Smith, a now-eloquent senior who\u2019s headed to Hunter College to study biology in the fall. \u201cBut this class went beyond financial literacy. Not only did we become familiar with Quick Books, Excel and all the other Microsoft extensions, we filled our resumes with important life skills as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-year program, which is part of the school\u2019s Business Academy, introduces students to the foundations of business in freshman year, followed by leadership and public presentation lessons in year two. During junior year, participants write a business plan and begin marketing a product. Senior year is when they launch and run a virtual company. <\/p>\n

\"These<\/p>\n

Students in the Virtual Enterprise program pose for a picture outside of BlackRock, one of the world\u2019s largest investment management and financial services firms. (Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)(Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the real deal \u2014 we have been a New York State Career and Technical Education [CTE] entrepreneurial preparatory program since 2021. We prepare students to become entrepreneurs and teach them to understand financial literacy,\u201d said Joseph Weisberg, Susan Wagner\u2019s CTE business teacher and virtual enterprise coordinator. \u201cIn this classroom they\u2019re learning how to plan a career and make an impact in the local business community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Weisberg, who worked as an accountant and had prior teaching experience before coming to Wagner in 2023, says students who complete the program are well prepared to enter the workforce with a solid understanding of career and financial management. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst they learn finance, marketing and management skills and in their final year they take part in a virtual enterprise where they sell a virtual product through an online marketplace,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt\u2019s simulation based, but the experience is very real.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past two years the students operated an inclusive bakery, one which catered to those with dietary restrictions. The students researched ingredients and even partnered with local bakers who advised them on how to prevent cross contamination and other food allergy issues.<\/p>\n

\"These<\/p>\n

Susan Wagner High School’s virtual enterprise program allows students to take a deep dive into entrepreneurship, studying finance, marketing and other business applications before launching their own company. (Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)(Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)<\/p>\n

\u201cEach student walks away with a resume and cover letter, and plenty of real-life experience ready to apply for a position that suits them,\u201d Weisberg said. \u201cOver the course of four years, the students are taking a very in-depth look at the life of an entrepreneur. Many decide to continue studying business in college, others are well-prepared to jump right into the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weisberg\u2019s students say it is by far the best part of their high school experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part is how Mr. Weisberg values us,\u201d said Max Koleci, a junior. \u201cHe takes a couple of students and gives them larger roles, shows us how to lead. From day one I knew I wanted to be one of those leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koleci praised the \u201ctight knit\u201d program, detailing how he was inspired by a class trip to the BlackRock, one of the world\u2019s largest investment management and financial services firms. He called the entire experience \u201cenlightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"These<\/p>\n

Students in Susan Wagner High School’s Virtual Enterprise program work on a project in class. (Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)(Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re learning things in this program that I know I\u2019ll apply in real life,\u201d he said. \u201cBusiness is very interesting and even though I\u2019m not quite sure if I will pursue this field in the future, I know that I will use these lessons in whatever path I might take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chasity Gordon, also a junior, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis class has helped me learn who I want to be,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI entered the program in sophomore year, and we had lessons in Adobe, Canva, PowerPoint. I know now that I want to pursue a career in marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program helped me discover a lot of things about myself,\u201d Liam Smith added. \u201cI am so much more communicative and no longer anxious or stressed, struggling to picture my future \u2014 short or long term.\u201d <\/p>\n

Each student walks away from the program with a Career and Technical Education diploma, a specialized New York state high school accreditation that recognizes students who have completed a rigorous program of study in a specific career field. It signifies that a student has not only met the standard graduation requirements but has also gained valuable skills and knowledge in a chosen career area.<\/p>\n

\"These<\/p>\n

Students present a business plan during one of their Virtual Enterprise classes. (Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)(Courtesy of Joseph Weisberg)<\/p>\n

While students say that diploma is \u201ca big deal,\u201d it\u2019s most certainly not the only thing they earn from this course. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is by far the best program that Wagner offers,\u201d Max Koleci concluded. \u201cMr. Weisberg always tells us \u2018even if you hate business, you will learn how to prepare a budget, how to calculate interest on car payment\u2026\u2019 and that\u2019s the kind of real-deal stuff we\u2019ve learned in his classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 For the past several years, a group of students at Susan Wagner High School…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,607,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-19365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}