About Y.E.S.
What is the Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.) for Arkansas?
Y.E.S. for Arkansas is a statewide business plan competition where students in grades 5-8 showcase their creativity, intuition, and innovation. The competition is designed to encourage Arkansas' students to act upon their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow's businesses. This approach encourages students to apply what they learn in school to a real world setting.
The competition was initiated in 2005 as a collaborative project for middle school students. Since then, a total of 1315 students (grades 5-8) representing 38 schools have participated and over $21,500 in cash has been awarded. Y.E.S is managed by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), an affiliate of Arkansas Capital Corporation.
Why entrepreneurship?
The focus of the Y.E.S. competition is to provide students with a program in which they can develop and enhance their entrepreneurship attributes. In short, Y.E.S. is meant to be an experiential enhancement for entrepreneurship education that exists within Arkansas.
According to Entrepreneurship Everywhere: The Case for Entrepreneurship Eduction , a report by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, entrepreneurship education does not just contribute to new business starts. The benefits of entrepreneurship education include:
- Improved Student Performance. Students in entrepreneurship education programs show improved school performance and more ambitious goals for life after school. Studies from Philadelphia's high school system show that at-risk students enrolled in entrepreneurship education have better attendance, have higher grades in Math and English, and are more likely to graduate.
- Upgraded School Performance. By improving student performance, entrepreneurship education can contribute to improving the overall quality of America's schools. At the most basic level, students enrolled in these courses are less likely to be truant or drop out of school. Educators are also finding that entrepreneurship training encourages youth to employ sophisticated math and science concepts in real-life situations, leading to greater interest and improved performance in math and science.
- Enhanced Economic Competitiveness. Individuals that receive entrepreneurship training (at all ages) are more likely to start a business, and most importantly to sustain and grow a business. It is these companies that will be the cornerstone of future economic growth, job creation, and wealth generation.
Read the full report here:
Entrepreneurship Everywhere_The Case for Entrepreneurship Education