Student entrepreneurs learn life skills, business acumen
Inside a commercial space at 2021 Reynolds Ave. in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood of North Charleston, students transform into entrepreneurs every day after school.
They run two businesses: Hodari Screen Printing, which prints logos and designs onto T-shirts and other products, and Isoke Fine Jewelry, a handmade jewelry business.
Students handle the operations from start to finish: marketing their companies through Facebook, websites, word of mouth and events; creating the products by hand; interacting with customers; and handling sales and fulfilling orders.
Metanoia, a nearby nonprofit that focuses on building up existing resources within the community, launched the youth entrepreneurship program in 2009, using a national curriculum called Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.