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A student perspective: Real-world experience is priceless

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

Getting into the Business 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 Incubator course

By Sam Keeler 11 th grader Barrington High School

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 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. 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.

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

From left, Margarita Geleske, Barrington 220 Educational Foundation Trustee, and Incubator co-founders Michael Miles and Karl Fruecht

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