E Squared

About E-Squared

E Squared stands for “Entrepreneurial Energy” and is Career Partners’ signature program. The semester-long competition consists of teams of high school students, paired with business coaches, and are charged with developing a new business venture. During the final weeks of the program, the teams pitch their business idea to hypothetical investors for a real life business experience. Each winning team member receives $10,000 in scholarship funds. 2023 marks a key milestone, with E Squared celebrating it’s 15th year anniversary.

Below is a brief outline of the semester-long program:

• Students from CCHS & EVHS are randomly placed in teams of 3-5
• Each team decides on a business (service and/or product) it would like to create
• Local business people teach workshops
• Pairs of business people act as coaches for 2 teams
• Coaches meet with the teams at least weekly
• Teams create a business plan using a specified template
• Business plans and oral presentations are judged in a preliminary round and the six best teams compete in the finals

In addition to workshops and coaching, all done by local business people, special tools were developed to assist the teams in creating their business plans including:

• All students and coaches are assigned Google Chromebooks for enhanced collaboration
• A business plan template which must be followed
• A flowchart to guide teams through the semester

RULES OF THE COMPETITION

One of the unique aspects of E Squared is the high level of involvement from business leaders engaged in teaching workshops and in coaching. These business people work closely with the classroom teachers to bring real-world experience and thought processes into the academic setting. E Squared teaches wealth creation, teamwork, public speaking, hard work, meeting deadlines, confidence, and rational thought.

For a community the size of Culpeper County, E Squared involves a very significant number of individuals from the business community. These volunteers assist 2 classroom teachers and the Career & Technical Administrator in working with approximately 50 students.

• 10-15 coaches spending many hours in the classrooms
• 36 judges acting as venture capitalists. Judges cannot be coaches.
• Workshop presenters (Project Selection, Marketing, Business Plan, Operations)
• 40+ corporate and individual sponsors who provide all funding

AWARDS

There are three levels of awards in the E Squared program but only the winning team members receive scholarship funding.

• Scholarships – $10,000 for each member of the winning team. The amount was increased from $5,000 to $10,000 in 2022 to better align with the cost equivalent of attending a 2-year community college in Virginia. Winning students may use their scholarship funds for any continued education needs beyond high school.
• Bob Jebson Awards (formerly the Coaches’ Award) – each pair of coaches can nominate as many team members of teams they coach that are (1) most likely to succeed in business or (2) demonstrate outstanding leadership. Recipients can choose between a Chromebook or an iPad.
• Honor Society for special recognition (cords awarded for graduation).

A student provided the following comment on a previous survey:

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. A continuous improvement process is exercised from year to year, known as Things Gone Right/Things Gone Wrong (TGR/TGW).
2. Career Partners is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff.
3. The leadership of the program is strong and actively involved.

E Squared is under the umbrella of Career Partners and its cross-disciplined board of directors. This board has developed excellent rapport, trust and cooperation between educators and business people – a rare accomplishment in today’s environment.

Career Partners would never continue the E Squared program without strict adherence to point #1 and would be extremely hesitant to change point #2 by having paid staff.

With emphasis on educator feedback, continuous improvement practices and reliance on sound business principles, E Squared is a resilient program and a living example of how to build the very skills students need to learn.