Students look to future, learn effort equals reward in small business class
Youth earn funding for tie-dyed clothing and video game development after writing business plans
By Diane Rodriquez
If you think some of today’s youth
don’t know how to put in a hard day’s
work, you should have spent some time
in the Youth Entrepreneur and Leader
ship Project (YELP) class at Siletz Valley
Early College Academy this spring.
Nine students completed the class and
between them created business plans for
tie-dyed clothing, an arcade and video
game design.
The class was sponsored by the Siletz
Tribal Business Corporation and was
funded through a $27,000 grant from
the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. It
focused on a core curriculum produced
by ONABEN (Oregon Native Ameri
can Business Entrepreneurial Network)
called Indianpreneurship. It included a
mentoring/shadowing program, a busi
ness plan competition and funding for
two of the businesses.
Nearly 20 students started the pro
gram and learned about the ingredients of
a business plan, listened to presentations
from owners of small businesses and went
on field trips to local small businesses.
Several students opted to stay on for the
second part of the course, which was put
ting together a business plan.
“Some kids thought the funding
wouldn’t really happen - and then it did!”
said Chiles
Items are custom-designed - buyers
have their choice of size and color and
even can choose to have words ironed
on after the tie-dye process is completed.
Products that may get added to the mix
include sweatshirts, sweatpants, tank tops,
hats and bags.
They’ve sold about 20 T-shirts so
far, mainly to family and friends, and are
raising awareness about their products
through word-of-mouth and flyers posted
at the school, local businesses and Tribal
buildings. The team is thinking about
setting up a booth at the Toledo Summer
Festival in July and the Nesika Illahee
Pow-Wow in August.
Other business plans developed
include one by Joe Williams for an arcade
in Siletz and another by Kai Florendo,
Chayson Metcalf and Jaycub Westbrook
to design Web-based games for Apple
products. This project received $400 for
hardware and a one-year subscription
to a development/programming service
provided by Apple.
Help from local business owner
The students received help from
Siletz residents Chris Rabideau
(Cherokee descendant) and his wife,
Angela (Siletz), who operate Ferret Mojo
Entertainment. Their business develops
family-friendly indie games for the Xbox
360 that are available on the Internet
(ferretmojo.com).
“I originally presented information on
our Ferret Mojo business, but then I was
asked to stay on,” said Chris Rabideau. He
continued to share details about business
plans, accounting, taxes, marketing and
advertising.
Year ends with plans ready to go
“The kids have really benefited and
learned a lot about themselves. They’ve
seen their plan grow from a dream, an
idea, to planning and paperwork and td
fruition.” said Lorrie Syms, a teacher at
SVECA. “I wish more (students) had
opted to stay in.”
Stephen Larrabee, STBC manager,
praised the students for their accom»
plishments at a year-end pizza party in
early June.
“For your age, these business plans
are a wonderful achievement. Now you
have a working business plan,” he said
to the students, adding that their added
confidence and camaraderie can help
them implement their plans at any time.
A plan for tie-dyed clothing
Three teens - Kylie Chiles, Sierra
Warren and Savannah Worman - put
together a business plan that followed
the old adage of writing (or doing) what
you know.
“We like tie-dying and we thought it
would be good to do something we like,”
said Chiles. By the time they had finished
their plan, these girls had identified such
things as their goals, target market (teens
and young adults), pricing and how much
money they would need to get started.
“We learned to keep within a budget
and how to be smart with what we buy,”
Chiles said. She added that the team plans
to wait until it reaches its goal of selling
1,000 T-shirts before expanding to more
products than the T-shirts, blankets and
“onesies” they now sell for $15.
The team received $950 from the
grant to start their business.
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Members of the Youth Entrepreneur and Leadership Project include (1 to r) Joe Williams, Kai Florendo, Kylie Chiles, Jaycub
Westbrook (kneeling), Chayson Metcalf, teacher Lorrie Syms, Aislyn Cox, Steve Larrabee from STBC, Savannah Worman,
James Stewart and Chris Rabideau of Ferret Mojo Entertainment. Not pictured: Sierra Warren
Medications available to help you quit smoking, fight effects of withdrawal
When you quit smoking, you may
feel strange at first - dull, tense and not
yourself. These are signs that your body
is getting used to life without nicotine. It
usually lasts just one or two weeks.
Many people just can’t handle how
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The Food and Drug Administration
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varenicline pills
Using these medicines can double
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medicine alone can’t do all the work. It
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but quitting will still be hard at times.
Medicines with nicotine
Nicotine cessation products - also
called nicotine replacement therapy
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not the hundreds of other harmful chemi
cals that are in cigarettes. NRT helps you
handle the physical symptoms of quitting
by giving you much less nicotine than
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You can buy some NRT medicines
without a prescription from your doctor.
These include a patch, gum or lozenge
with nicotine. Nicotine inhalers and nose
sprays are available only by prescription.
Keep in mind
Medications alone can’t do all the
work. They can help with cravings and
withdrawal, but they won’t completely
stop withdrawal symptoms. Even if you
use medication to help you stop smoking,
quitting can still be hard at times. Many
people find it helps to take medication
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Talk to your doctor about getting
help to quit
It’s important to tell your doctor when
you are ready to quit, especially if you are
pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant
or have a serious medical condition. Your
doctor can help you connect with the right
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Remember - quitting “cold turkey” isn’t your
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Make sure to let your doctor or pharmacist
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*smokefree.gov
Tasha Mason
541-444-9659/80O-648-0449, ext. 1659
tasham@ctsi.nsn.us
Oregon Quit Line
800-QUIT-NOW
oregonquitline.org
July 2011
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Siletz News
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