New initiative gives Cub Scouts a look at what it’s like to be an entrepreneur

KANSAS CITY—On Nov. 22, a small group of Kansas City area Cub Scouts got a chance to learn a little about what it means to be an entrepreneur. “I was really impressed with the kind of program they got together,” said John Kreicbergs, president of Kid Rocket Studios, a children’s entertainment company based in Kansas…

YEOW - Cub Scouts

The Cub Scouts met in the Kansas City Startup Village to learn more about entrepreneurship. 

KANSAS CITY—On Nov. 22, a small group of Kansas City area Cub Scouts got a chance to learn a little about what it means to be an entrepreneur.

“I was really impressed with the kind of program they got together,” said John Kreicbergs, president of Kid Rocket Studios, a children’s entertainment company based in Kansas City.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Outreach Workshop (YEOW) was the brainchild of Matt Thomas, a Kansas City Cub Scout leader who was searching for ways to teach his scouts about entrepreneurship. Eventually, he began working with Adam Arredondo, co-founder of the Center of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development (CEED), and together the pair launched Explorer Post 816.

Explorer Post 816 is a sibling program of Boy Scouts, but is coed and focused on career preparation for high school-aged students. Typically Explorer Posts are centered around more traditional careers such as law enforcement, healthcare or aviation, but Explorer Post 816 concentrates on entrepreneurship.

Even though the program is new, its high school members are already helping to teach even younger kids about being entrepreneurs. The workshop held last month was a collaboration between the members of Post 816, Scout leaders, CEED and Kansas City area startups. About a dozen boys between the ages of 10 and 11 were introduced to the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and given hands-on experience developing and pitching business ideas.

Kreicbergs and LittleHoots founder Lacey Ellis were asked to talk about their businesses to give the kids an idea about the life of an entrepreneur. They then broke into small groups to select a problem that needed solving from a list prepared by the Explorers.

“My group chose ‘too much homework,’” said Sam Stower, who led one of the small groups. Stower is high school senior who is homeschooled and plans to study entrepreneurship in college. He has been part of Post 816 almost since it’s inception and has quickly become one of the group’s student leaders.

He said that the Cub Scouts he worked with came up with a fanciful solution to their problem. “They created a pen that does your homework for you,” he said. “It rolls around on little wheels and does everything.” They even thought of having the pen mimic the owner’s handwriting so the teacher would be none the wiser.

Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Fives led another group of Cub Scouts who decided to tackle the problem of not yet being old enough to drive. Their solution? A teleporter.

“I really enjoyed working with the kids,” said Fives, a high school senior who hopes to study aviation next year. “It was amazing to see what other ideas they had come up with before we made the final decision on the teleporter. They are very creative.”

Ultimately Stowers says that the point of the workshop was not to come up with realistic ideas for companies. “What matters more is that they have a good time just going through the process.”

“I’m excited to see kids get exposed to this stuff at an early age,” Kreicbergs agreed.

The culmination of the workshop involved each group pitching their business concepts to the room and fielding questions Shark Tank-style. The adults and older students were impressed with the savvy 10- and 11-year-olds.

“One of the kids actually raised their hand and said, ‘Are you going to be insured?’” laughed Kreicsberg. The concept being pitched was an extreme playground.

“He just sat there with a knowing smile,” said Stowers, who was also impressed with the question. “It was funny. I wouldn’t have seen that coming.”

Arredondo says that he hopes the high school Explorers can eventually take over and lead the workshops themselves. His CEED co-founder, Abby Tillman, says that the high school students were excited about helping the Cub Scouts. “They decided that what was even more important was to help kids younger than themselves.”

Fives seems to agree.

“We had some amazing guest speakers come tell of their stories and some awesome people helping us with this event,” Fives said. “I just hope that this is something that we will be continuing and hopefully expanding. It is a great way to introduce kids to entrepreneurship as well as a fun activity that teach them teamwork as well.”

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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