Back to School

Education initiative sparks kids’ entrepreneurial spirit

Heading back to the classroom isn’t a bad idea, even for people already immersed in professional life. business@school, an education initiative by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has businesspeople sharing their knowledge and practical experience with students and teachers. ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE supports the program and sends employees to two Munich high schools.

For a whole year, they coach tenth to twelfth grade students there, not only imparting their theoretical and practical business knowledge, but also promoting entrepreneurship. In the final phase of the program, participants develop their own business idea and write a business plan. Then, the students present their concepts at regional and national events, where a panel of experts selects the best projects. In 2016, a team from Schwäbisch-Gmünd won first place for their business idea “SOFRA”, a toothpaste that not only cleans the teeth, but also shows residues.

“The main point of business@school is learning from each other,” emphasizes Babette Claas, who is a Director at BCG and in charge of the project. According to Claas, interaction with ProSiebenSat.1 employees enables teachers and students to gain experience together and try out new types of instruction. Digitalization is crucial in all phases of the project. “When it comes to digital stuff, some of the kids are way ahead of us, such as in using Snapchat and similar apps. I always try to channel that knowledge into the project. My job is to teach them business fundamentals and help them develop structural thinking. That’s how we bring the best of two worlds together,” explains Fabian Heuschele, investment expert at ProSiebenSat.1 and business@school coach at Munich’s Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium high school. Every year, around 2,000 students from 90 high schools in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the United States take part in the project. <