WANTED: Entrepreneurial teacher with big ideas and some business savvy

Written by Cherise Letson

July 9, 2014

 Want a great paying job that will help shape New Brunswick’s future business leaders while also helping children on the other side of the world? CHAT to the Future has job for you, and it’s far from a boring desk job.

The non-profit is hiring an entrepreneurship mentor/project manager to work with New Brunswick high school students to help them kick-start the own business ventures. Half of its proceeds will help support CHAT’s orphanage.  You can get more of the nitty gritty here. CHAT’s roots are in entrepreneurship. You can learn about that incredible back-story here.

The position is made possible by a recent $200,000 investment (over two years) from the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. CHAT’s founder and executive director Adam McKim says they created the position because to help the province’s busy high school teachers bring resources to students they wouldn’t otherwise have.

“Our math, literacy, and technology mentors support and connect teachers to achieve just that,” McKim says. “An entrepreneurship mentor will do this same kind of work and put the time into partnering with local businesses – time that classroom teachers just don’t have.  They’ll be helping teachers to go beyond the business plan and actually bring small ventures to life.”

Thing is, it’s up to the mentor to create, develop, research and test the model of coaching they’ll use with the students. As you probably already figured, it’s a unique position, and you won’t find a guide book in the “For Dummies” section at Coles. It’s a big job that’s forging uncharted territory for New Brunswick’s education system. It’ll make the Grade 11 Entrepreneurship class much more appealing and less petrifying.

McKim says he hopes that in the long term, the position will develop resources for N.B. teachers that go beyond CHAT schools.  “We are hoping they will not only help teachers to develop entrepreneurial skills in our pilot schools but, after a year of implementation and research, that they will forge relationships and produce resources that will benefit hundreds of teachers in our province and beyond,” says McKim.

Sounds like something you want to take on? The posting closes July 11th, so what are you waiting for?

For those of you not applying, what are your thoughts on this new position? What kinds of entrepreneurial resources would you like to see them bring into schools?

Cherise Letson is a freelance journalist based in Saint John N.B. Find out what she’s up to at @CheriseLWrites.

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