Dr. Notis Pagiavlas
A trip to Carowinds is a wonderful outing for area teenagers, but for some high school students in foster care attending this year’s Teens Engaged in Aspiring Mentorships – an Uplifting Partnership (TEAM-UP) program, it was also a learning experience.
In addition to having fun, the students also studied the business aspects of the park, including its target markets, advertising options, staff behaviors and merchandising.
A project spearheaded by Winston-Salem State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, TEAM-UP provided a week of learning about careers, small business start-up, leadership and personal finance for 30 foster care children from Forsyth, Guilford and Durham counties.
“We began this program as a means of providing a unique experience for teenagers who are in foster care,” said Dr. Notis Pagiavlas, an associate professor of marketing at the university’s School of Business and Economics and director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. “We want to make this experience fun for the students, but also have various life lessons embedded in what they are doing.”
For example, students went to Concord Mills for shopping, dinner and a movie. Participants were expected to use the funds provided to cover their expenses and have some savings for the future. Providing this type of hands-on personal budgeting experience is designed to underscore the importance of what they were taught in the financial literacy session earlier that day. The students learned teamwork skills and had a nutritional analysis lesson through a shared dinner at Triad Community Kitchen.
“Thinking about your future and fully grasping the concepts you need to be self-sufficient is difficult for many young people, but it can be exceptionally challenging if you do not have consistent, strong family support,” Pagiavlas added. “By bringing these students together on our campus and providing them with a variety of learning and social opportunities, we hoped to influence their decisions to pursue productive careers and make better life choices.”
The TEAM-UP program ran from June 14-18 and was supported by a series of grants from BB&T, the DataMax Foundation and through the N.C. LINKS program of the participating counties’ Departments of Social Services. Participants were current or former foster children ages 16 through young adulthood. Their selection was based on a variety of factors including level of maturity, involvement in local LINKS programs and service, a written essay, and their ability to participate in activities outside of the week-long program.
Two additional follow-up days were scheduled in July and August to provide focused support for the participants’ projects that will be presented at the program’s conclusion August 9.
