Donna Shepardson, business education teacher at Columbia High School in East Greenbush, NY, has been using EntreSkills - an interactive,web-based entrepreneurship course developed by the NYSSBDC's Office of Entrepreneurial Education - in her classroom since 2004. During her ten years in the business department, she has taught a variety of classes, including Entrepreneurship, Career and Financial Management, Marketing, and Financial Life Skills to name a few. She uses EntreSkills™ - an interactive, web-based entrepreneurship course developed by the NYSSBDC’s Office of Entrepreneurial Education – as the foundation in her entrepreneurship classes. “It is a very flexible program and can be used in a variety of business classes “ Donna states.

Shepardson has the opportunity to hold her classes in the computer lab. “Students love computers,” says Shepardson and “it is an attractive feature when students are signing up for classes.” EntreSkills™ is a thorough and comprehensive online entrepreneurship class that is easy for the students to use. Students have the ability to work individually or through teacher instruction. When asked about teaching entrepreneurship to high school students, Shepardson said “I love it. Having taught Entrepreneurship classes for several years, students enjoy learning about successful entrepreneurs and having the exciting opportunity to someday own their own business. It is a very exciting class to teach.”

As Shepardson discusses small business with her students, she indicates that “Small business is the backbone of the community. Students enjoy talking about the local pizza shops, and businesses that are new in town. We talk about supporting the small business owner.” To supplement the class, Donna has had various guest speakers come into her classroom, such as franchise owners and personal business owners from the community. Some of these speakers include local business’ such as Zachary’s Bakery, Plato’s Closet, Sweater Venture, Peter Harris and Stewart’s, to name a few.

When Donna was asked how she would compare the new EntreSkills™ to the old program, she indicated “There are many more modules within the chapters, therefore, topics are easier to locate. There are more questions for the students to complete while reading the text, making the course much more interactive. The program is easier to read, in addition to being more colorful and engaging. The website links are more relative and up-to date and the companies used as examples are ones students can understand and relate to.” In closing, when we asked Donna if she plans to use the new EntreSkills™ differently than she has in the past, her response was “Yes, I will be using EntreSkills™ in all of my business classes in the future. “