NJH students address business needs

Johnny’s Issues

I recently had a terrific opportunity to visit a GT (gifted and talented) class at Navasota Junior High School. The students in the class had an assignment to think about a business that our area needs and that would be beneficial to the community. The participants were sixth thru eighth graders and they worked in pairs to come up with these ideas. The responses were very interesting, and I want to share a few with you.

Here are some of the business concepts that were tossed about by the kids:

• Create an overnight drop-off for children. Reasoning is that a single mom may need to work late and not have any support system to care for children overnight.

• Open a bookstore downtown that also has a coffee bar.

• Use some of the old, closed down gas stations around town to create a visitor center providing information and some history of the area.

• Open a gaming room (Pokémon, not poker!) that can also serve as after-school tutoring available.

• Open a water park/skateboard park/game center (there were several that fell into this category).

• An athletic center that offered activities, services and merchandise

After spending a few hours in the GT class hearing these ideas, I was so impressed with the thought and reasoning that had been applied to the project. Many of the ideas expressed had an altruistic component, which speaks well of the parents and teachers of these GT students.

The presentations were well-done, and the students were very articulate. I would quiz the pairs of students as to why they came up with the ideas. They definitely feel that there are local needs for their generation and want to see them addressed.

The students considered locations in our area that might work for their various projects. They did research as to the prices of available properties. They looked at other considerations such as personnel costs, startup and other expenses.

My role that day, as I explained to the students, was to be their dream-crusher. I listened to each idea and critiqued as best I could to get them thinking about other aspects of their business. I brought up things like supply lines, local market conditions for their business, competition that is already in place, liability issues related to their dream business, etc. Even after looking at those aspects, they were not to be denied. I am happy to report that not many dreams got crushed that day.

These GT students and others in our school district are tomorrow’s civic leaders, future business owners, entrepreneurs who will be investing in our community. It is great to see them demonstrate how much they care about our community even at such a young age. Congratulations to the NISD and to these truly gifted and talented kids.

Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County.