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Hosting | Field Trip Hosts Guide

This guide provides essential information that will help you prepare for and perform your volunteer assignment at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). As a field trip host, you are responsible for coordinating a planned visit to your company or business to give young people an opportunity to learn first-hand about business concepts, challenges, and rewards associated with various job functions. Good luck and have fun!

NFTE Program Model

Our model is classroom-based with entrepreneurship curricula that teach math and literacy skills in the context of building a business plan. The curricula meet the social studies and mathematics national standards, and the language arts, mathematics, science, technology, and social studies standards in several states. Programs are rigorous, experiential, and vital to students futures, and volunteers from local businesses share their expertise in our classrooms. We support teachers by giving them the tools they need to inspire students to learn entrepreneurship. We work districtwide with school administrations to help them achieve their educational objectives. We motivate our students to work hard in the classroom. As an incentive, we give students the chance to win seed capital for their business ideas by competing in NFTEs classroom, citywide, regional, and national business plan competitions. NFTEs national business plan competitions have a

grand prize of $10,000 and bring together our top students from around the country each fall in New York City. These top students compete in front of a panel of volunteer judges who are distinguished business leaders and entrepreneurs. NFTEs advanced business programs support students through volunteer-alumni mentorship, pro bono consulting, and other services to make students businesses operational.

Training

Student Participants
Our students come from lowincome communities in major cities across the country, which are often plagued by crime, violence, substance abuse, and hopelessness. These challenges affect the quality of students lives and fuel school-dropout rates. Conversely, NFTE instills hope and improves students lives through entrepreneurship education. We teach skills relevant to the real world, and motivate students to stay in school and learn. When they do, their vision of the world

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changes. They discover innovative, relevant programs that inspire them to graduate, go to college, and embark on successful careers. They learn to recognize opportunities for success all around them. Benefits for Students There are clear benefits for students who participate in NFTE programs. They graduate with the necessary presentation, leadership, and problem-solving skills for continuing their education and contributing to the economy by either running their own businesses or joining the workforce. The strong financial literacy skills that students learn help them to make and manage money. departments (e.g., finance, marketing, human resources, and sales) in the experience. By inviting speakers from other departments, you offer students diverse perspectives about job functions and business. Think of ways to enhance students experiential learning. For example, to prepare yourself for the visit and connect successfully with students: Research the community to gain more insight into students lives. Find out about the school (e.g., location, principals name, studentteacher ratios, and test scores), the community (e.g., economic status, types of businesses in the area, and homelessness, crime, or substance abuse statistics), and the population (e.g., racial and ethnic makeup). Know your audience. Be mindful of the various needs of students and their grade and learning levels (e.g., adjust your vocabulary for students in middle or high school). Create an agenda and consider the timeframe of the visit. The agenda should outline the planned events and activities. Factor in time for touring the site, other speakers if any, lunch or refreshments, and other activities. Our Responsibility NFTE staff will work with you beforehand to coordinate the field trip visit. Details to work out include the date and time, number of students, length of the trip, business concepts that the students have learned, and ideas on how to make the trip valuable.

Training

Field Trip Preparation

Your Responsibility The most important component of the program is you, your real-life experience, personally and professionally. As a field trip host, you give students a greater understanding of how a business operates by acquainting them with the mission, structure, and operations of your company or business. The time you spend with students should be interactive, not filled with lectures. Engage students by linking real-world experiences to the particular curriculum, and you will successfully capture their interest. Keep discussions lively and, if possible, include colleagues or employees from different

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Field Trip Day
On the scheduled day, everyone you, NFTE staff, teacher, and studentsshould arrive 15 minutes ahead of time to handle any security/I.D. checking with the company or business. You should: Build in at least an extra 30 minutes, depending on the length of the visit, to break the ice with students. Introduce yourself and what you do, and allow students to introduce themselves. Distribute your agenda (if you have not done so in advance) to NFTE staff, teacher, and students to keep everyone on track and focused. Remember, preteens and teens are easily distracted and might engage in sidebar conversations. However, NFTE staff and teacher will be present to assist you in refocusing the group, if necessary.

Tips
1. Be as creative as you like. Incorporate a marketing presentation, financial reports, research and development processes, or foundation materials. The more exposure students have to business components and how departments collaborate to advance a business, the better. 2. Be open and honest. It is okay to say, I didnt know that, I really learned something today, or I didnt see it that way. 3. Be patient and flexible. Young people today might be different from the young people with whom you were familiar in the past. 4. Paraphrase students comments and relate discussions back to the lesson. This allows you to check what you heard and gives students a chance to agree, clarify, or think more about what they are trying to communicate. 5. Ask open-ended questions about the topic. If this is your first experience working with young people, ask questions or ask students to explain their answers or comments further. This helps to keep students focused on the topic, and increases your understanding and learning. 6. Give constructive feedback. This visit can be a rewarding, valuable learning experience for students, so be specific, not general. For example, say, Thats a good example because it illustrates instead of Thats a good example.

Training

Evaluation
At the end of your assignment, NFTE staff will email you the link to an evaluation about your volunteer experience. Please complete it promptly, and thank you!

Questions? Contact your program offices volunteer manager for specific information about your volunteer assignment.

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