It's business--period.

B.E. for Teens teachers' supplement launched

Entrepreneurial education is becoming a valuable commodity for young people under 18. And more and more school systems are integrating business into their curricula to fill the demand.

This month, BLACK ENTERPRISE, the nation's premier business magazine for African Americans, will launch a teachers' supplement to accompany Black Enterprise for Teens, its entrepreneurial publication targeting 13- to 18-year-olds. BE currently produces a teachers' supplement to accompany KidpreneursNews, which targets eight- to 12-year-olds.

Black Enterprise for Teens presents concepts in business and economics from the perspective of entrepreneurs. It covers a broad range of concepts, including consumer and production theory and marketing. The teachers' supplement will explore these topics in greater detail, enabling today's educators to integrate entrepreneurship into their lesson plans.

It's only natural that BE lead the charge to deliver comprehensive business education to high schools. According to four Gallup surveys commissioned by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the University of Nebraska, eight in 10 African American teens were interested in starting their own business, vs. seven out of 10 Hispanics and six out of 10 women. Of the more than 1,000 students surveyed, less than a quarter had taken any business or entrepreneurial courses and a majority said they were taught little or nothing about how business or the economy works.

The studies were released in a recently published book, Seeds of Success, Entrepreneurship and Youth (Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co., $12.95; 800-770-3544). The findings were also the topic of the third School-to-Entrepreneurship Forum held in Washington, D.C., in the fall. Thirteen school districts from cities nationwide, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, which have introduced entrepreneurial programs into classrooms, attended the forum.

In conjunction with the first issue of its teachers' supplement, three new sections have been added to B.E. for Teens: "Ready, Set, Start," which focuses on the start-up process; "On Company Time," which explores management issues; and "On The Biz Tip," which addresses the bottom line.

Existing sections, such as profiles of teen-run businesses, will relate the actual stories of young people around the country who are involved in business development and marketing. There are also profiles of celebrity business owners and investors--such as actor and rapper Will Smith and Keyshawn Johnson of the National Football League--and articles on money matters (savings, investments, credit, etc.), careers, education, consumerism and life-skills development.

"The scope of the publication is similar to BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine, but the tone and examples are strictly geared toward teenagers," says Melvin Crenshaw, program manager for Kidpreneurs.

For more information on Black Enterprise for Teens, KidpreneursNews and their teachers' supplements, call 877-543-7736.