LIMA — Twelve-year-old Javier Brito-Diaz will gain firsthand experience in running his own business as he represents Lima schools in the Lima/Allen County Young Entrepreneurs Academy starting this week.
The seventh-grader from South Science and Technology Magnet School has the distinction of being the only student from Lima City School District to attend the program.
“I just thought it was interesting to be in this kind of program and I think it’s going to be fun,” Javier said.
YEA is run locally through the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce. It is a program that teaches middle and high school students how to start and run their own legitimate business or social movement. The program was developed at the University of Rochester in 2004.
Javier said his idea for a business is a clothing store that caters specifically to people around his age.
“Sometimes parents buy their kids clothes that they don’t really like, so I want to have a store that sells things they really want like shirts with cool designs on them,” he said.
Javier was nominated for the academy by his science and robotics teacher, Jessica Spencer. She said she recommended Javier for the program because he is “tenacious” and a “great problem-solver.”
“When he has a goal, he works until he meets that goal and he doesn’t give up,” Spencer said. “I think that’s really important in entrepreneurship because you can’t let a failure or misstep slow you down.
“He’s not a quitter, and that’s why he was the first student I thought of when I heard about the program.”
The program kicks off Monday and continues through May. Javier and other students in the Allen County area will meet weekly at the University of Northwestern Ohio.
Along with his interest in business, Javier said he also enjoys math and engineering. Since last year, he has been a part of South’s robotics team, which requires students to build and program a robot to perform certain tasks. The team will compete against other local schools in a competition in April.
Javier said he hopes his future job will will allow him to explore his interest in engineering and business.
“Hopefully I can combine those two things so that I can make something great for the world,” he said.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
