After its popularity last year, GMIT’s School of Business is bringing back its Young Entrepreneur Summer Camp this July.
40 young people from 12 to 17 years old will get to take part in this free, week long programme run by lecturers in Enterprise, Innovation, and Creativity Kevin McDonagh and Ivan McPhillips.
At the camp pupils will take part in a series of workshops, guest lectures, practical exercises, and field trips to help them generate an idea and develop it until it can be presented to a panel of judges at the end of the week.
“In addition to delivering the key content in bite-sized pieces Kevin and I hope to stimulate participant creativity through examining recently developed business ideas, involving guest speakers, and through practical hands-on exercises.” said Ivan McPhillips.
The summer camp will run for one week from Monday to Friday, July 9-13, going from 10am to 4pm each day. On the Friday the pupils will present their fleshed out idea to a group of judges in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ format.
McPhillips said that the overwhelmingly positive response to the inaugural summer programme last year encouraged them give it another go this summer.
“In 2017 we had 49 students drawn from 16 secondary schools across the city and county. Our idea for this summer school centres on providing 40 participants with all the key elements required to generate and develop a business idea.”
The young entrepreneurs summer programme was introduced by Minister for Education Richard Bruton last year to promote design skills and entrepreneurial thinking among secondary school pupils, one of the key goal identified in the National Skills Strategy 2025.
The closing date for applications for the Young Entrepreneurs Summer Camp is Monday, July 2 at 5pm. For more information and to apply, please contact kevin.mcdonagh@gmit.ie or call 091 742340 or ivan.mcphillips@gmit.ie.
