Interview with Donna Martin, 2005 recipient (along with fellow teacher Dianne
Lauramoore) of the Leavey Award
Bucholtz High School, Gainesville, Florida
Why do you teach entrepreneurship?
My degree is in business education, and I have personal experience as a business owner—
my husband and I own a major appliance retail business and also an appliance distribution
and installation business. This combination of education and experience gives me a real
understanding of the rewards, challenges, and difficulties that an entrepreneur faces.
Entrepreneurship is a viable career option for today’s students, and I am excited to share
my knowledge with them.
How do you think education in entrepreneurship helps your students?
Entrepreneurship covers a broad range of topics including finance, marketing, customer
service, communication, technology, etc. Regardless of whether a person ever actually
starts a business, the education received in this program will benefit the students in their
personal life as well as in a wide variety of career fields.
Do you think educating young people in how to start businesses benefits the rest of
society?
Helping a young person develop into a successful contributing member of society is the
overall purpose of education, and that is my goal as an entrepreneurship teacher. When a
person can start a business and become successful, society benefits in the same way that is
true of a person in any other successful career field. Most small businesses provide jobs for
other people as well, so this is also a benefit to society.
What training opportunities have helped you teach entrepreneurship?
Some of the most helpful training opportunities have been through workshops and materials
provided by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. Another excellent
resource is DECA, and in particular, their new advisor training seminar which is offered
each year at their International Career Development Conference. I have also attended the
MarkED Conclave and benefited from workshops and materials obtained there.
What has been the most satisfying aspect of teaching entrepreneurship?
Since we have a four-year sequential program, it is very rewarding to see the growth in
knowledge and understanding between the students’ 9th grade entry and their high school
graduation. During that time they gain a real understanding of the rudiments of business
and narrow their career focus to a specific area. Our students also acquire actual work
experience either through an internship or by working into our school-based enterprise.
Our students become very competent in making public presentations; meeting with
school, community, and government leaders; and competing successfully at state and
international levels.
What materials do you use for your course?
The textbooks for my classes are Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management and
Entrepreneurship: Ideas in Action. I also use videos, guest speakers, numerous Web sites,
and many other supplemental materials. We use Junior Achievement’s Success Skills program
and their company program with our 10th and 11th grade classes, respectively. I use
many materials obtained from workshops that I have attended, and I have prepared several
materials myself.
What kinds of students respond best to entrepreneurship concepts?
The students who are most successful in our program are usually creative and energetic,
risk takers, free thinkers, looking for a challenge. The terms normally given to describe a
successful entrepreneur are the same ones that describe our most successful students.
How does DECA help you teach entrepreneurship?
DECA is a perfect fit for entrepreneurship. We incorporate the DECA competitive events
into our curriculum and require our students to participate in a competitive event of their
choosing. We also teach leadership skills through the organization and operation of our
local DECA chapter.
Was it hard to apply for the Leavey Award? How did it work?
I would not say it was hard to apply for the Leavey Award, although it did take quite a bit
of time to write the synopsis and assemble the materials for the portfolio that we submitted
as documentation of our activities. The portfolio must also be accompanied by the
nomination form (ours was signed by our district Director of Career and Technical
Education). The entire application packet is due by October 1. It is important to review
all of the evaluation criteria and be sure to adequately address each one of the points listed.
This information is all available on the Freedoms Foundation Web site.
What prerequisites do you have for entrepreneurship courses in your school?
Our program is called The Academy of Entrepreneurship, and it is a magnet program for
students throughout the county. Criteria include a minimum 2.5 GPA, good discipline
record, and good teacher recommendations.
What advice would you offer a teacher who wants to expand course offerings into
this area?
I recommend you use a project-based approach to teaching this subject and that you seriously
consider incorporating DECA events into your curriculum. Projects give students
opportunities to apply their training rather than just doing worksheets and studying theories,
and it requires them to develop their teamwork skills. They experience tremendous
growth in their communication and leadership skills, and I don’t believe this would happen
in a textbook-based program.
