St. Helena Schoolchildren Learn Entrepreneurship and Tech Skills As 'Movie Moguls'

Photo: In white shirt, Fernando (4th grade) and VP design for his team, The Magical Future. In button- down shirt, Ivan (5th grade) and Executive Producer for his team. Next is Karl (4th grade) and VP of Production. And Kristian (3rd grade) VP of Design. Ivan, Karl and Kristian’s movie production company is called The Cool Guys.

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Twelve classrooms, from grades 3 to 5, at St. Helena Elementary School are learning the basics of entrepreneurship through a new program from BizWorld.org and courtesy of a grant from Pascal and Melanie Levensohn.

The program, “BizMovie,” teaches children the basics of entrepreneurship while encouraging them to explore technology. Students work in teams to start and run their own movie production companies and create animated movies. For students with limited computer skills, BizMovie can be a fun introduction to technology, and for others, this experience can help to build computer animation fluency, according to program organizers.

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This program is entirely student-driven: students create the concept for their movie, storyboard and produce it, create and execute a marketing campaign, and sell tickets to an audience, organizers said. The program culminates in late May with a Box Office Day where students present their movies and sell tickets to a group of peers, adults and faculty.

The Levensohns, of Levensohn Vineyards, selected the organization as their education nonprofit-of-choice and donated $10,000 to BizWorld.org to launch the program in the St. Helena School District.

“As residents of St. Helena, supporting the Napa community is a priority for us,” said Pascal Levensohn.

BizWorld.org is an international non-profit whose mission is to challenge and engage elementary and middle school children across the cultural and economic spectrum with fun, hands-on entrepreneurship programs that promote financial responsibility, teamwork and leadership.

For more information, visit www.bizworld.org or call toll free 1-888-4-BizKid.