Retired Sudbury Entrepreneurs Participate in L-S Class

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Debra Galloway.)

Three retired Sudbury entrepreneurs from the shared their personal business stories with students in history teacher James Raffel’s economics & finance class during May and June. The intergenerational program was arranged by the Sudbury Council on Aging (COA) as a way to “give back” in appreciation for the generosity of L-S students who come to the Senior Center regularly on Teen Tech day to help seniors learn to use their electronic devices.

COA member Bob Diefenbacher made the original connection with Raffel to seek a way for retired business entrepreneurs to pass along some of their experiences to high school students. Raffel came up with the suggestion that the entrepreneurs help with the year-end class project worth 20 percent of the students’ grades. The student assignment was to create and present a realistic start-up plan for a business that he or she could actually run. In addition to Diefenbacher, the other entrepreneurs participating in the class were Marilyn Goodrich and Don Hutchinson.

Beginning in May, the senior entrepreneurs each told their business stories to the classes, and then they attended eight class sessions during which students made their business plan presentations. Along with the students and the teacher, the entrepreneurs asked questions and made observations on each plan.

“This has been an excellent experience for the students,” said Raffel.

He asked his students their reactions to having the entrepreneurs in the class and whether the program should be run next year. According to Raffel, the classes were “overwhelming positive” about the involvement of the entrepreneurs and encouraged its continuation.

The response from the participating entrepreneurs was equally enthusiastic.

“We found the student business plans uniformly creative and well done,” said Diefenbacher. “The three of us were impressed with the work the students put into their plans. Some of the plans represented businesses that had real potential, and some students presented plans for businesses they are already running."