Student Company
History
The aim of the student company is to prepare young entrepreneurs in a real business environment.
The beginning was set by the Junior Achievment program in 2006, with the help of which the first school company was established in the school. It involves students from 11th to 12th grades (17-18 years old), who were engaged in the activities of Californian worm breeding, biofertilization and its implementation.
Junior Achievement is the oldest, largest and fastest growing non-profit organization working in the field of economic education. Its program enabled students to go through all the steps of starting a small business. Students work in a practical direction - how to create and manage a business, how to make the registration steps, what are the tax requirements. Then they can sell their products, which makes them very happy and satisfied
The student company program is running under the guidance of Mrs. Zhivka Raykova - a teacher of Entrepreneurship & economics. It is an extracurricular activity.
However, things do not end here. After the successful start, the students are expanding their activities (10th grade was involved, 16 years old) and currently the school has three student companies that specialize in various industries. In addition to dry/liquid bio-fertilizer/compost from Red Californian worms;, the members of the second student company grow lavender and produce various aromatic products from it. The latest activity is developing by the third student company, which produces seed paper (biodegradable paper and "blooming" cards). The ecological product has a specific production technology. It involves the use of recycled paper, which is blended and the seeds of violets, cloves, asters, zinnias, verbena and cobblestones are added. After spreading and drying this mixture, different shapes are cut. This is how the "blooming" cards are made, which can even be planted in a pot. The student company is the first in our country to produce such a product.
The most successful activity is the production and sale of liquid and dry biofertilizer/compost by breeding California worms. This business plan arises the interest many students. There are 10 beds with red California worms and we expand them every year. With its product this company participates in competitions and wins prizes. In practice, it is a closed production cycle, as the main food of the California worm is the waste from school farm for raising cattle, which is converted into food for the worms, and the biofertilizer produced by it is the main source of funds. The produced compost is also used as a raw material for growing flowers. Theoretically, in the learning process students study the technology of breeding, feeding, treatment and care of animals and apply our theoretical knowledge in practical skills.
About the liquid biofertilizer- the solution is with well water, extracted from a depth of 103 meters. It is added to the pure biofertilizer and so we achieve an ecological product in which there is no chemistry, no preservatives, the production is suitable for organic production.
Over the years the student companies received many awards - "Clean environmental product", "Entrepreneurial spirit", a visit to the European Parliament and others.
The program includes creating and organizing the activities in the company, creating a business plan, management, production and sales, compiling an annual report.
At the beginning of each school year, the student company selects and specifies its activities. A logo, a president is elected and the positions in the "company" are distributed. We teach them to diversify the activities so that the same training company can perform several functions. This is good for business, as students need to be aware, if there is something unprofitable, how to make money. At the end of the year, the earned funds are distributed dividends and the relevant materials are purchased for the needs of the company.
The most important thing is for young people to see how they can be useful for themselves and for society afterwards. How? Seeing the opportunities for business development in different sectors of the economy. This is the first step; this is the "training" of their business skills ",