On May 23, Mount View Middle School in McDowell County, West Virginia welcomed EntreEd for an agriculture and entrepreneurship activity that involved about 300 student participants.

Jenny Totten, EntreEd Regional Director, and Toi Hershman, EntreEd VP of Programming, were joined by Mariana Evans from Southern WV Community and Technical College. The team worked with students on a hydroponics and entrepreneurship activity with the help of Mount View science teachers, Amanda Miller and Cassie Burkett.

Students were given a budget and fake currency, and then had to determine what type of plants they could grow to sell at a market. They had to work within the budget as a team. Students created hydroponics starter kits and a pitch to their potential customers highlighting the features of their plants.

“Middle school science students had a blast starting to turn their minds on to entrepreneurial thinking and product development, ” said Totten, who also led the activity. Students enjoyed the activity, learned about hydroponics and agricultural entrepreneurship, and all took home a hydroponics starter kit.

Programming was made possible through EntreEd’s Fostering Self ESTEAM in Appalachia’s Emerging Workforce project, funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The project helps middle and high school programs in a seven-state region infuse Entrepreneurship into academic classrooms with a focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) initiatives. To learn more about the project, contact Amber Ravenscroft, ESTEAM Project Director, at aravenscroft@edvgroup.org.