i-Startup - Entrepreneurship and startups in high schools

i-Startup is an original project of "Galilei-Costa" High School in Lecce (Itay) and it is an innovative educational program aimed at introducing the Education to Self-Entrepreneurship in the ordinary programs of the Business sector starting from the 1st year (age 14). All with a special eye to the new digital professions (3D printing, web marketing, internet of things, sharing economy).

Thanks to i-Startup, starting from September 2017, all students enrolled in the 1st year have been the protagonists of a curricular training, during normal school lessons, which saw the deepening of entrepreneurial concepts in the programming of many subjects (such as Business Economics, Law, Computer science, Languages, Italian) and the effective creation and implementation of micro startups starting from the students' innovative ideas.

Is it a replicable project in other schools? Absolutely yes. Since it does not involve any variation, either in the discipline or in the time frame (distribution of hours per discipline), i-Startup can be implemented in all the Business oriented Institutes and high schools. The only variation is in the deepening of some contents in the subjects' programming.

This project was born in a school where teachers (led by Daniele Manni) have over ten years of experience in encouraging students to design, conduct and manage innovative micro startups, both economic (introduction and sale on the market of products, services and web applications) and social. In the Cases and examples section of this website, you can consult a collection of ideas that young students (aged 14-19) have developed over the last 13 years.

It is no coincidence that i-Startup was born at "Galilei-Costa" High school in Lecce, indeed it can be considered a natural evolution of the innovative teaching technique based on entrepreneurship and the creation of young startups, which nominated Daniele Manni as Finalist at Global Teacher Prize in 2015, Finalist at Italian Teacher Prize in 2017, and been chosen by Ashoka Italy to represent Italian teaching innovation at the Utrecht International Innovative Education Meeting in 2016.

Are there interactions with companies? Guaranteed. During the entire school year there have been continuous meetings with entrepreneurs and young successful startuppers, both in the classrooms and in the school's laboratories and at the companies' places. Among the companies that showed great interest in the i-Startup project and who have already given full availability, include:

«I am sure that this new path represents a very valid contribution to the growth of young people, not only in terms of economic and entrepreneurial skills. Problem solving training, decision making education, peer cooperation, failing to correct and participation in life stories are all practices that make teenagers more independent, more aware of their skills, more confident in the future and more resilient. All features that help a lot, both in the continuation of future university studies and in addressing the job's world.»

Addolorata Mazzotta - Principle of "Galilei-Costa" High School

The mission of i-Startup is said in a nutshell: To offer young people, from the age of 14 and in the normal course of study, the opportunity to experience what it means to invent a product, a service, an app and become Self-Employers. Above all in the digital field..

For those who think that girls and boys at 14/15 are too young to think about "work", they may be right. While we are convinced (and we have proof) that they are not at all too young for creativity and the desire to invent something that does not yet exist and not to young to get involved because that "thing" may become known, appreciated and sought after.

But what can happen, what educational and training impact can generate a project like i-Startup, what are the benefits of an entrepreneurship education path with a start at 14? It must be said that this reflection is not based on a mere hypothesis but are a posteriori considerations, arising from the over ten year experience at school, with a strong and particular vocation for the "real" Corporate Culture, not evocations in the classroom, not simulations, but real small and micro entrepreneurial ideas that see the creators implementers and "sellers" of new services and products.

Teacher Prize

Let's start from the worst case, that is, those students who feel less involved and who discover they are little or not at all led to entrepreneurship (only the latter "discovery" deserves the game). They have the opportunity to touch and experience how we can move from a phase of pure initial brainstorming to the search for an idea to the real placing on the market of what has been invented, success or failure that is, better, a failure, as for this age it is certainly more educational and there is no risk of implanting sensations of super capacity in students. This category of students, which represents about 10-15% in each class, has at least perceived the sense and has had the practical demonstration that the "yes we can" idiom is not just a saying or a slogan.

Let's see now the best case, ie those students (on average 5-10% per class) who discover they have the inspiration of the entrepreneur, who let themselves be fascinated by the different challenges but also by the risks of the trade, which are not discouraged by failures, on the contrary, they draw lessons and encouragement to do better, which find a great inspiration in creativity, innovation and being an advocate of change (a "changemaker"). In this case these students become startuppers, in the true sense of the word, they give life to one or more entrepreneurial ideas, sometimes individually, much more often in group with other 2/3 partners. These students wil not go seeking for a job because they have already found it, they created it with their own hands..

While on the majority of the class, around 75%, the impact due to entrepreneurship education and awareness of self-employment, translates into:

a marked increase in self-esteem;
a greater confidence in themselves and their abilities;
a greater resilience;
a more marked tendency to optimism;
less distrust in the future, the latter unfortunately characterizes our youth.

The subjects and topics involved in the i-Startup project are:

Business Economics

Law

Computer science

Languages

Italian language

Topics and integrative themes in Business Economics:

The Company and its constituent elements
The figure of the entrepreneur
Definition of "startup"
Simplified Business plan
Marketing of a startup (what it takes to succeed and be a market leader)
Business Model Canvas
Pitch and search for investors

Topics and integrative themes in Law:

Legal form of a "startup"
Benefits and derogations
Requirements (constituents, maintenance periodicals, ...)
Forms of financing (public, private, crowdfunding, ...)
Digital citizenship

Topics and integrative themes in Computer science:

Elements of the Html language (for the creation of simple web pages)
Web, social networks & e-mail marketing
Elements for managing a spreadsheet (Excel)
Elements for managing a presentation (Powerpoint)
Computer graphics (Photoshop)

Topics and integrative themes in Languages:

Terminology and specific glossary
Curriculum vitae in English, French, Spanish
Preparation and presentation of a pitch in English, French, Spanish

Topics and integrative themes in Italian language:

Terminology and specific glossary
Curriculum vitae
Public speaking
Preparation and presentation of a pitch

In addition to the theoretical topics, the i-Startup project provides three concrete essential components:

Series of "storytelling" meetings with entrepreneurs and startuppers - o be held both at school, in the classrooms and technical laboratories, and at company offices. These meetings are very important as the technique of storytelling has a lot of grip on students and allows them to deal directly with the real protagonists of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship. Very important at this stage is also the discussion of topics related to "failing".
Series of thematic workshops in digital topics - able to acquire knowledge, skills and experience in the use of new digital technologies. It is a significant step both to broaden the range of possible issues to start a startup and to aspire to prestigious digital professions, much requested by the current and future labor market. We're talking about 3D printing, web marketing, sharing economy, Internet of things, computer graphics, .....
Real process of startup creation by students - from the brainstorming phase ("storm of ideas" to the identification of the right one) to the real realization of the service / product / application. Extrins the concepts of "learning by doing" and "hands on" and is the most important component of the whole project. The "Galilei-Costa" Hgh School in Lecce has developed within it, in over 10 years of activity and experience, the knowledge and skills necessary to lead the students in all the necessary phases (ideation, implementation, incubation, acceleration), schools that have not followed a similar path can use external experts and organizations, available to offer their services to those who need it. Among these we remember JA Italia, auLAB, Startup Super School, The Qube.