It Only Takes a Spark: What 196 Students Discovered in Two Days
Updated: Sep 5
CAGAYAN DE ORO, PHILIPPINES - 196 students spent two days learning how entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence can help them turn problems in their communities into potential businesses and real-world solutions through the Academy of Entrepreneurs GreenPreneurship program.
Led by Academy of Entrepreneurs Founder and CEO Paula Mills, the two-day program challenged students to identify problems they care about, research them using AI, develop solutions and transform those ideas into business concepts, brands, websites and working prototypes.
The goal was simple: to help young people recognise that they do not need to wait until they graduate, have money or become experts to start creating positive change.
From Passion to Problem-Solving
Students began with Ikigai, exploring their passions, interests, strengths and the issues they care about.
They were then asked to look outward at challenges affecting Cagayan de Oro and their wider communities and consider one important question:
Could something you care deeply about become the starting point for solving a real problem?
From there, students used AI to research community and environmental issues, explore different perspectives and test their assumptions.
Rather than using AI to simply generate answers, students were taught how to write effective prompts, ask better questions and use technology as a tool for research, creativity and problem-solving.
From an Idea to a Prototype in Two Days
Within just two days, students progressed through the early stages of entrepreneurship:
Problem → Research → Idea → Solution → Business Concept → Brand → Prototype → Pitch
One team, for example, explored how carabao manure could be transformed into sustainable paper products, including sticky notes and notepads.
The students didn't stop at the idea.
They developed the concept, created a brand, built a website and even produced an online ordering form, demonstrating how quickly young people can move from identifying a local resource to imagining a potential sustainable enterprise.
The Bigger Outcome: Confidence
The most important result of the two days was not a website, logo, app or prototype.
It was the change in how students saw themselves.
Students began to recognise that their ideas had value, and that entrepreneurship could give them a practical way to act on those ideas.
“This was the best program of my life! I’ve never learned so much in just two days. I never imagined that as a Grade 7 student I could come up with my own business idea and actually launch it with a working AI-powered app. Oh, please come back again! Thank you so much, Academy of Entrepreneurs. Come back soon!” - Grade 7 Student
Teachers and administrators also witnessed students becoming increasingly curious, engaged and eager to present what they had created.
Watch: What Happened in Two Days
In two days, 196 students explored their passions, investigated real community problems, learned how to use AI effectively and transformed their ideas into entrepreneurial solutions.
Creating the Next Generation of GreenPreneurs
GreenPreneurship is designed to help students develop skills increasingly important for their future: entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, sustainability, communication and problem-solving.
More importantly, it gives young people an opportunity to discover what they are capable of creating.
Two days cannot complete a young person's transformation.
But two days can create a spark.
A student can walk into a classroom seeing a problem and walk out thinking:
“Maybe I can be the person who solves it.”
And sometimes, that is exactly where entrepreneurship begins.
Bring Greenpreneurship to Your School
Give your students the opportunity to discover their potential, build real-world entrepreneurial skills and learn how to turn their ideas into AI-powered solutions.
Interested in bringing the program to your high school?
Contact the Academy of Entrepreneurs High Schools Team: highschools@astudy.com
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