Business in the classroom

Mountain Brook High School, specifically the business department, has seen success with the Leadership Mountain Brook programming since its formation, according to organizers, and they’re looking to expand on that opportunity. 

Starting in the 2018-19 school year, MBHS is hoping to provide select students with even more preparation for the “real world” through a new business department course: INCubatoredu.

Designed as a course for budding entrepreneurs, INCubatoredu is based off the TV show “Shark Tank,” during which people pitch business or product ideas to a group of potential investors. The course was started in Barrington, Illinois, MBHS teacher Brooke Hawkins said, by a group of women who saw its potential.

Hawkins and her fellow teachers in the business department, Jill McGee Covington, Amber Benson and Lori Beasley, learned about the program through the National Business Educators Association. After doing some research, Covington said it was a good fit for their student body.

Through the program, students work in teams for a year to develop a product or a service. “They start brainstorming what problems we are encountering … and come up with a solution they think would be practical, beneficial and successful,” Hawkins said.

Students get feedback from local entrepreneurial experts — or mentors — throughout the school year before presenting in two big pitches: once in January and once at the end of the year. The goal is to walk away from the pitches with funding to create their product or service.

Hawkins said in other INCubatoredu courses, projects actually do get funded. “Some of the board of advisers have requested equity within that business, too,” she said.

The program itself dedicates different class periods to learning about the ins and outs of starting a business, including customer discovery and connections, cost and revenue estimation and marketing planning, Hawkins said. But it doesn’t just go through slideshows — INCubatoredu brings in volunteers to teach some of the classes as coaches.

“Living in Mountain Brook, we have a wealth of community knowledge and experience that live [nearby],” Covington said. “We thought that was a great way to bring that community support into our classroom so that they can be part of the education process.”

Students will be given the opportunity to obtain feedback from the program’s board of advisers, too. The board will be judging the projects during the two big pitches and offer strategic advising to the teams. 

“I think it’s going to be really neat for them to just build these relationships and network with the community members … [from] people who have been there before,” Hawkins said. 

Covington said it will be “mutually beneficial.”

“We want the students to gain experience from it, but we also want the members and the board of advisers and the coach to gain something from our students,” she said. Covington said, too, that they’re hoping to attract a different group of students — who had to submit an application to be a part of INCubatoredu — to the class: those who aren’t afraid to fail. Benson said they’d prefer the students have that first failure in the class so they can take a step back and the business department can help address any problems.

“We want the students to know at the end of the program that it’s OK to fail,” Covington said. “And we’re going to get back up, and we’re going to figure out a way to make it work.”

All four teachers agreed that eventually, they’d love to see the year-long course grow and reach more students. But for now, they’re looking forward to seeing the students work with business owners to reach their own entrepreneurial goals.

“Our community has so many people who are successful and just have their hands in different things,” Beasley said. “The students are so eager to ask questions and just pick their brains.”

If you are interested in becoming a coach during the second semester of the school year for INCubatoredu, contact the school at 414-3800.