High school students in the Shawnee Mission School District are getting a real-world taste of entrepreneurship through a new partnership with Oak Park Mall.
When the district inquired about available shelf space or a kiosk to display student goods, the mall’s senior general manager countered with something bigger: a digital storefront with enticing window displays.
Oak Park Mall built out the sleek storefront, which features physical products displayed behind glass and posters to explain the project. Shoppers can scan a QR code to learn more about the student-owned businesses, products for sale and how they can support ongoing fundraising campaigns to help the startups get off the ground.
The student-designed merchandise includes apparel, hats, candles and artwork. Additional student businesses and products will be added on an ongoing basis. The storefront, Real World Learning, is located on the lower level next to JCPenney.
“The exposure and the visibility is what makes it so powerful,” Laura Harsch, business to education program officer for the school district, told the Kansas City Business Journal. “It’s outstanding the way (Oak Park Mall) does business and the way they think about their community. It allows the students to really see results, and that’s the whole core of real-world learning is to give them those work experiences while they’re in high school so they truly are prepared for college and career. … Maybe this business will turn into their career.”
The entrepreneurial project is part of Tiffany Dixon’s optional activities for her students. Dixon, a business teacher at Shawnee Mission West High School, built a website to feature the student businesses and products. This semester’s classes have led to more than 40 new startups, she said in a release.
Harsch hopes the partnership becomes a blueprint for other high schools in the district and sees potential to expand the project to other shopping centers. It allows students to dream, but also know it’s OK to fail, she said.
“Some of our most successful folks started because of several failures along the way,” Harsch said. “To have the support of a school district, a teacher, the community and the mall – all those arms wrapping around them – I hope that gives them confidence and continues their curiosity to pursue those dreams.”
The collaboration with Shawnee Mission is part of Oak Park Mall’s focus on expanding its community partnerships, Senior General Manager Karla Rocker Engel told KCBJ. Engel even attended Dixon’s classes to share her knowledge with students about merchandising strategies.
Real World Learning officially launched on Cyber Monday, and Engel wants to help facilitate a ribbon cutting ceremony in the future.
“(We’re) certainly happy to be able to support this up-and-coming generation of young entrepreneurs,” Engel said. “You want kids coming into their adulthood years really feeling like they’re empowered to try new things, and this reaches a broad spectrum of students from all walks of life. It’s a way to support students and show them they really can do these things … and take control of their own future.”
