Fourteen months ago, Wharton junior Chris Pienkowski came up with an idea -- to create an Internet search engine intended "just for kids."
And now, with the help of the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship in Education program, an opportunity has emerged.
Working with the Graduate School of Education and the Wharton School, the program aims to help entrepreneurial-minded Penn students and grade school teachers venture into the worlds of business and education.
"The Goldman Sachs Foundation's partnership with the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education illustrates our commitment to excellence and innovation in education," Foundation President Stephanie Bell-Rose said in a press release.
Currently housed in GSE, the program has been tied into the Business Plan Competition of the Wharton School, an annual event in which students submit concepts for their own business ventures and hope to earn the chance to refine their ventures in one-on-one sessions with business advisors.
The education track of the competition allows applicants to propose new ventures that connect to an aspect of K-12 education, such as student learning or management of an educational business. Along with a chance to win $10,000 donated by the foundation, participants in the education track also receive mentoring along with feedback from business experts.
This is the first time that such a separate track has been offered.
In addition to the competition, the Goldman Sachs program will sponsor a new GSE course in entrepreneurship and will include a three-day seminar this summer for program participants.
"Our hope is that through all three components, the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship in Education program will engender innovation in K-12 education," Shelby Moeller, the competition's education track coordinator, said in an e-mail statement.
The new course in entrepreneurship will be offered this fall at GSE to introduce students to the history of and opportunities available in the education sector of business. It will be taught by Legal Studies Lecturer Peter Dean.
"We are thrilled with the number of enrolled students and their enthusiasm for the topic," Moeller said. "In speaking with many students, I have heard them express a real interest in developing their ideas. It's not just an intellectual exercise -- students really want to start these ventures."
This summer's professional development seminar is designed for educators who want to start new ventures and to promote entrepreneurship in their curriculum.
Plans for the institute are still in development.
The significance of having a program such as Entrepreneurship in Education "is certainly trend-setting and reflective of the world we live in today," according to Wharton spokesman Peter Winicov. "That's one reason we're so excited to play a part."
As for Pienkowski, his idea eventually evolved into CoolSource Technologies, a company that will develop interactive educational software and Web-based services for third- through eighth-graders.
Pienkowski submitted his project -- one of 23 education-related proposals entered in the business plan competition -- in the hopes of someday seeing it come to life.
"The education of our youth is the foundation of our future," Pienkowski said in an e-mail statement.
Pienkowski added, "I believe there will be many opportunities for creative entrepreneurs to develop innovative new business models."
