5
students, who are led by trader-turned-teacher Hagop
Soulakian, are taught first to think of real-life
problems they would like to solve.
“Solutions are a result of understanding people’s
problems,” said Soulakian. “A business opportunity is
the ability to monetize the solution.”
The learning environment in the Incubator is
vastly different from a mainstream high school class.
The innovative state-of-the-art classroom is equipped
with MacBook Air computers, glass-framed white
boards, office chairs, a conference room and more. It
was designed to mimic an energetic, inspiring and
collaborative business environment conducive to
many learning styles with access to the latest
interactive technology.
“In Corporate America, you have access to
technology and functionality that you may not have in
your home. Our objective was to replicate that.
Create an environment that allows you to share
information in convenient ways.” Fruecht said.
Funding for the classroom was donated by the
Barrington 220 Educational Foundation and its major
donors.
“Interior designers, furniture manufacturers, glass
wall manufacturers, graphic designers, and many
more people donated classroom designs, furnishings,
and other items and talents for the classroom. The
Educational Foundation specifically donated Apple
laptops and other technology for the classroom. We
are grateful to have a generous and talented
community,” said Barrington 220 Educational
Foundation Trustee Margarita Geleske.
Students not
only learn from their
teacher
and
founders of the
course, but also
through
the
involvement of 19
classroom coaches,
25 team mentors
and 10 Advisory
Board
members
who
are
all
experienced
business leaders.
This
unique
curriculum learning
management
system is based on
the latest research
and
thought,
designed
in
collaboration with business faculty at respected
universities.
“We found that the outreach to the mentor
volunteers has been overwhelming. We’ve been
oversubscribed,” Miles said.
Twice during the course of the school year,
students have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to
the Incubator Advisory Board in a fashion much like
the ABC show “Shark Tank.” During the first
(Continued from page 4)
(Continued on page 6)
A student perspective:
Real-world experience is priceless
Getting into the Business
Incubator
course
at
Barrington High School has
been the best thing to
happen for me in my high
school career so far. This is
the first class in which I have
had to actually apply myself
and
make
real-world
decisions. I’ve learned more
information that will be useful
in my adult life than I have in
all of my other classes
combined!
The classroom that we
work in is unlike any other room in the high
school. There are more than twenty-five MacBook
Airs, thirteen TV's, and eight Apple TV's. The
technology is basically limitless and the classroom
is built to nourish creative thinking.
When I come to class it feels like I have left
school and nothing else matters. We have met
numerous successful entrepreneurs that have
shared some of the keys to success that they
have learned throughout their lives. Something I
have learned from this class is that nothing is
more valuable than experience.
Together, my group and I have developed our
small idea into a business that we plan to launch
this year. Whether this business becomes
successful or not, I am thankful that we have this
opportunity to test our business without risking our
own money. I will take away so many things from
this class, including the knowledge and
confidence to take an idea and do something with
it. This course will, without a doubt, make an
impact on any student who is involved with it.
From left, Margarita
Geleske, Barrington 220
Educational Foundation
Trustee, and Incubator
co-founders Michael Miles
and Karl Fruecht
By Sam Keeler
11
th
grader
Barrington High
School
