TREP$ partners with Entrepreneurship week

Having empowered 30,000 elementary and middle school students to launch real businesses, the TREP$ program has become a well-known initiative to over 120 schools in New Jersey and New York.
This month, TREPS ED, LLC, the Newfoundland start-up behind the award-winning entrepreneurship education program, is pleased to announce its partnership with National Entrepreneurship Week. The week-long annual observance is the result of a 2006 congressionally-chartered initiative created to support entrepreneurship education. Celebrated nationwide Feb. 16-23, events will be hosted by businesses, schools, libraries, and banks.
According to a study by the Kaufmann Foundation, 85 percent of new jobs are created by startups. Entrepreneurship education helps to introduce students to the idea of “making a job” instead of “taking a job.”
College students can now earn specialized degrees in entrepreneurship, and interest is trickling down to kids much younger. TREP$ meets the demand by tackling the subject at the elementary and middle school levels. Designed using a project-based learning approach, participating students learn and apply the basic tenets of entrepreneurship, by actually developing a product and taking it to market.
As a partner of National Entrepreneurship Week, the TREP$ organization pledges to continue to support entrepreneurship in its schools, promote local events to showcase entrepreneurship, and join in a social media campaign to spread the impact of entrepreneurship on a national scale. Two schools currently implementing the TREP$ program will host TREP$ Marketplaces during the event. The young entrepreneurs of both Center Grove School in Randolph and the Hillside School in Livingston, will be launching their businesses on Feb. 21.
The cash-only marketplaces are open to the public and excitement is building.
Denise Dunton, the coordinator of the program for Hillside School, commented, “With this year bringing in our largest amount of participants to date at 117 students, TREP$ is alive and well at Hillside. The students have been working hard, creating unique and fun businesses, while putting all the new skills they have learned throughout the program to work. They cannot wait to showcase their products and services to family, friends, and the public.”
All organizations participating in entrepreneurial events during the week are encouraged to share their experiences on social media using the hashtag #Natleshipweek. “We are thrilled to once again champion this important initiative,” commented Hayley Romano, TREP$ co-founder. “Entrepreneurship education enriches academic learning, fosters creative thinking, and engages all students. Moreover, it prepares children to start thinking about their future and their role in the economy.”