![\"Steering](\"https:\/\/missiontimescourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/JA1.jpg\")
<\/a>On Nov. 29, Van Loan-Polselli\u2019s class was visited by Sarah Lindsey, vice president of the Mt. Helix Branch of Synergy One Lending. Lindsey is a member of JA\u2019s Junior Executive Society who became active with the group last year and helped launch a student program about the stock market.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to give people information in regard to starting a business, financial information to help them make better decisions; I didn\u2019t have any of this growing up,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have Junior Achievement. I didn\u2019t know anything about finance until I moved out of my parents\u2019 house and went to college. So to introduce that to others at a younger age, I just like to be a part of it. It\u2019s a good thing to do with my time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her presentation to the engineering class, Lindsey shared the struggles she experienced starting her own nonprofit to help people with complicated mortgage information during the recession, which followed the collapse of the housing market.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy nonprofit failed,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t like the word fail. I like, \u2018I didn\u2019t win, so I learned.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
What she learned was the reason she does things \u2014 like start a nonprofit or volunteer with JA \u2014 what she called her \u201cwhy,\u201d is that her true passion is educating people about mortgages, not just making money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to help people,\u201d she said. \u201cI just happen to have a background in finance.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Van Loan-Polselli, that was the lesson she most wanted her students to take from the presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really got them to think about their \u2018whys,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWhy they picked their project, what are the intrigues on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Student Jackson James found the presentation inspiring and in line with what the engineering class is doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re starting a design process and right after that we\u2019re doing business plans, so this really showed how we need to know why we\u2019re doing that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to make [the business plan] around why we want to make the product and not just because the teacher said so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Douglas Prodor, part of team making a white board eraser with a built-in sprayer for its capstone project, said hearing from an entrepreneur reinforced how to sell and market ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt showed how to get people interested and involved in what you\u2019re doing and get behind your passion as well,\u201d he said. \u201cThis presentation emphasized that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For JA of San Diego, getting people interested in their entrepreneurship program was very easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in San Diego, we had 47 classes sign up for entrepreneurial launch lessons,\u201d said JA learning coordinator Jenni Preciado. \u201cWe\u2019ve only been able to fill half of those. We are still working on getting entrepreneurs for the others, so we\u2018re going to stretch the program out into the month of December and January to get to all the classes that wanted one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preciado said the National Entrepreneurship Month program has attracted a variety of entrepreneurs, including finance professionals, inventors, scientists, computer professionals, shop owners and serial entrepreneurs who start company after company. Many of them made presentations to engineering classes from the national Project Lead the Way program, which Van Loan-Polselli is also part of. Other programs, like AVID and classes that teach business skills in high school, also requested that speakers come to their schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur feeling is that it doesn\u2019t matter what the discipline of the class is, if the entrepreneur is telling their story, that is going to help inspire a student whether that be selling mortgage or building computers or whatever,\u201d Van Loan-Polselli said.<\/p>\n
Inspiring entrepreneurship is the JA program\u2019s No. 1 goal, said Preciado, who then pointed to recent research conducted by ORC International, which shows that while nine in 10 parents would be extremely or very likely to support their teen in becoming an entrepreneur as an adult, only 30 percent of teens are interested. According to the survey, teens find starting your own business too risky and doesn\u2019t pay enough. JA hopes that by bringing in entrepreneurs to share their stories, it will steer young adults toward entrepreneurship. For student James, it seemed to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of us are thinking about finding a good firm to work for, but this really opens it up and lets us know that we don\u2019t need that one basic thing that everyone\u2019s doing, we can branch off and do our own thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, students and teachers in classes like Engineering Design & Development can look forward to being supported and inspired by the JA program.<\/p>\n
\u201cPartnering with JA is great because now I know I can outreach to them,\u201d Van Loan-Polselli said. \u201cWhen these kids are finished or mostly finished with their projects and they want to present it to someone, I can go to JA and say, \u2018Hey, I need a panel of people to come in.\u2019 They can be finance, engineers, marketing, etc. I can create a panel and these kids can present their project, their business proposal, they can demonstrate their working model and get professional input.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on Junior Achievement of San Diego\u2019s entrepreneurship program, visit\u00a0jasandiego.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n