Students at Annandale High School are learning how to be entrepreneurs

Annandale students who want to some day own and run their own business can get a head start, thanks to a new course on entrepreneurship at Annandale High School.

Teacher Stephanie Harmony of the AHS Marketing Department says the course “really gets students engaged in school.” These kids “want to open their own business and be entrepreneurs. They want to create their own products and services,” she says. Some of the businesses students are interested in starting involve car detailing, photography, catering, skin care, and yard work.

The course is offered in two sessions, with about 21 students in each class. Students who pass the course will receive credits from Northern Virginia Community College, as well as Annandale High School.

Herndon High School and the academies at Marshall and Chantilly high schools also offer classes on entrepreneurship, but Annandale’s course is the only one conducted in partnership with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a national program aimed at encouraging youths from lower-income communities to stay in school by teaching them how to start a business.

NFTE provided the course textbooks and other supplies and is bringing a team of local entrepreneurs to the school to help students develop business plans. The organization also is helping pay for the students to take a field trip to the wholesale district in New York City.