Connecting YouthQuest and Home: YQ Inc.

YouthQuest students will be creating businesses and selling their goods and services at a program-wide event in March. However, before they do, they must first learn how to plan and run a business.

To assist them in their efforts, YouthQuest activities will focus on building business sense, financial know-how and entrepreneurial skills during the month of November.

For example:

• Students in grades K-2 will learn that goods and services make up the backbone of all businesses. The students will discuss the difference between goods, or items made to purchase, and services, which are actions that a person does for someone else (e.g. a haircut, car wash, etc).
• Students in grades 3-6 will learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur, which is a person who starts a business to fill a need for a service or product. Specifically, students will learn about the entrepreneurs behind the Frisbee, Slinky and blue jeans.

To extend your child’s learning beyond YouthQuest, families can use some of the following activities to keep youth engaged at home in the evenings and weekends:

• Going shopping? Take your student with you and ask them to help you count your money at the checkout line.
• Discuss what items you need around the house and illustrate the difference between “want” and “need.”
• Talk with your child about what kind of business they would like to run or what kind of career they would like to have.

FOR OLDER STUDENTS

YouthQuest’s middle and high school programs focus on career- and college-prep activities that are both fun and engaging. For example, students at International Academy of Flint will be applying to college and learning about college life. Parents can reinforce these activities at home by helping their students prepare for college admission tests, find and apply for scholarships and set up college interviews.

YouthQuest is made possible through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and 21st Century Community Learning Centers.