Treasure Coast high schoolers getting hands-on training through campus businesses

Customers, profits and entrepreneurship are more than just vocabulary words for many Treasure Coast high school students. They're part of hands-on training on how to run their own business.

Hundreds of local students are learning business basics as part of their school day. They help run coffee shops, catering enterprises and even a doggy day care just for teachers, all without leaving campus.

This is more than book learning. Their teachers are former professionals who left their chosen fields to enter the classroom. And many are returning to their alma maters — to give back to the programs where they got their start.

Culinary teachers Henry Burson and Jesse Strell spent years as restaurant and hotel chefs before returning to the alma maters — Burson in the Vero Beach High School Class of 1999 and Strell at Fort Pierce Central in 2003 — to share their experience and expertise with a new generation.

"I'm not just a teacher and instructor. I want to inspire students to be passionate about what they do," Burson said.

Strell said he was motivated by his former teachers. He been a chef for Ritz-Carlton and Marriott, and has owned personal-chef and catering businesses.

"I try to inspire them. Maybe one day they will work with me," Strell said. "That's the whole idea. Try to pass the baton on to the next one."

Teacher Blake Hicks earned his degree in 2015 before returning to South Fork High School to teach veterinary-assistant students and help them run the school's doggy day care program.

Hicks has associate degrees in animal science and zoo animal technology, and has worked with animals from dogs to livestock to elephants. His knowledge stems from his nine years experience as a zookeeper.

Work experience is what matters in these types of programs, he said.

Jensen Beach High School Entrepreneurship Academy teacher Brent Mahieu uses his finance and professional business experience to be a mentor to his students, much like his own high school accounting teacher was for him as he struggled with the death of his mother. His teacher, whom he remembers as just "Mr. Murphy," told him he had the skills to succeed.

"He drove me to pursue business," Mahieu said. He said he wants to be a "Mr. Murphy" to other students.

"There's a lot they walk into this classroom with," he said. "I wanted to do something different."

The Vero Bean

Business students at Vero Beach High School's Vero Bean create a coffee shop café feel in a renovated conference room in the school's media center. They create the menu and special drinks of the month, shop for items and learn to run the business.

"I'm here to monitor and oversee," said teacher Addie Teske, in her second year with the business program.

Students learn management techniques, how to read financial reports and manage inventory, Teske said. Many of her students plan to study management or business in college, she said.

Budding entrepreneurs at Jensen Beach

At Jensen Beach High School, students learn how to be entrepreneurs by coming up with a product or business and pitching it to experts in a Shark Tank-type atmosphere. Students in Mahieu's Entrepreneurship Academy class work with retired business executives from SCORE on their business plans and marketing pitches.

"The biggest skill it teaches them is problem-solving and critical-thinking skills," Mahieu said.

Jensen Beach junior Jeff Campion, 17, for example, is working on a child's watch that sounds if the child's blood oxygen level drops, indicating the child could be in danger of drowning. The Entrepreneurship Academy class has taught him how to come up with a product price based on materials cost.

This type of hands-on learning teaches students at a young age about opportunities beyond college, explained Jean Eddy, president and CEO of the Boston-based nonprofit American Student Assistance program. Teaching students entrepreneurship helps them figure out what comes next, Eddy said.

"What it does is make these courses relevant," she said. "By teaching (students) entrepreneurship, we can show them a (career) pathway."

The American Student Assistance program and Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship have partnered to create an entrepreneurial curriculum for middle and high school students that teaches students in 30 states about business plans and product development.

While Florida is the partnership's largest participant, with 25,000 students enrolled, there's no curriculum being used on the Treasure Coast.

The program is designed to support students with their ideas, and helps them launch their own businesses, said J.D. LaRock, president and CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

"In high school, we want students to test and try," Eddy said. "They don't feel like they have a purpose."

For most of these programs, students are paid in credit or volunteer hours. Proceeds from Vero Bean, for example, go into a scholarship fund for selected students at the end of the year.

Students say they like the experience of learning to run a business and how to get along with colleagues in a work environment.

"It teaches us a lot of life skills," said Vero Bean senior Alaina Resch, 18. Students learn communication and problem-solving, she said. Resch pursued the class because she's always had an interest in management and business, she said.

Senior Preston Lloyd, 17, said working at Vero Bean helps him understand pricing at other businesses. Knowing the cost of ingredients, he understands why the cost of a coffee or product is set high.

"It puts everything in perspective," Lloyd said.

Fort Pierce Central: Catering coffee

Culinary programs across the Treasure Coast teach students more than just cooking skills. Advanced students create menus for catering jobs and luncheon events.

Every Friday, advanced culinary students at Fort Pierce Central High School serve up coffee for faculty and administrators. Specialty coffees are $2, which covers ingredients. Students are paid with volunteer hours, and tips go toward field trips and program expenses.

Culinary 2 students are required to have 30 volunteer hours a year, while advanced culinary students are required to have 50, said teacher Strell.

The café also does pick-up catering services, where clients order from the café website. Students handle invoicing, orders and food preparation. In addition, the class hosts luncheons and events.