Young BizStarters is the first financial and entrepreneurship week that took place at Royal School in Transylvania. From the 14th to the 18th March we had a different schedule, a lot of interesting activities, new challenges and competitions that were prepared by our teachers and by our special guests for our students. This activity were part of Global Money Week, an event that is initiated and coordinated by Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) in over 100 countries.
Day 1 of Young BizStarters kicked-off with a general assembly, which included a speech by Mr. Eusebiu Burcas and a money dance (among many others). Students from years 3-8 then attended the VIP talks, where 7 entrepreneurs from Untold Festival, Ambient, Dog Assist, Loopaa, Wens – The Travel Agency, High Class Trading and Mira’s Deco, shared their insights about what makes a successful business person.
The afternoon brought a visit to the greenhouses at USAMV to explore where food comes from.
Day 2 of Young BizStarters was full of diverse and engaging activities. The morning started off with a mindfulness training by Trinity House, followed by a stock market competition with Burcash and a trading presentation by High Class Trading that all captivated Royal School students. The afternoon saw the creation of some very innovative piggy banks, a coin treasure hunt and preparations to open a restaurant. The highlight of the day for some of our students was a visit to local renowned cosmetics company Farmec, that welcomed the children and shared some trade insights, as well as some refreshing samples.
Day 3 of Young BizStarters commenced with lots of activities based on our goals for the week. In the morning, we had our second session of mindfulness training with Ian Peric from Trinity House: besides helping us loosen up for the day, he introduced the Tibetan singing bowl and allowed each student in the room to give it a sound. Next, students in years 3-8 welcomed Ms Mirabela Istrate who talked about different business types and plans. A small group of students continued their work with a coin collection and expressed a lot of curiosity and knowledge as they identified each originating country on a map. KS3 students spent half of their day at the headquarters of High Class Trading Cluj, learning about the international stock market. The parents of our students in KS1 took the time to share their passion for their jobs, instilling the importance of loving your work.The day ended with an impressive tree auction to benefit a future project developed by Royal School students.
The numismatic exhibition opened on our 4th day of Young BizStarters, giving students the opportunity to learn about many types of currencies from all around the world. The students in KS3 were involved in a stock market competition based on their visit and information acquired yesterday. Meanwhile, KS1 students were very proud to officially open the doors of their Sunflower Restaurant: floating on jazzy sounds, the clients (KS2 students) enjoyed special servings of student-made Raffaello, fruit salad and a delicious traditional Romanian dessert called ‘salam de biscuiti’ (Cookie Salami). Because this is a global event, we connected with Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative from Philippines and shared opinions on saving “Take part. Save smart!”. The day ended with our first planting event at Royal School: the trees that parents bought yesterday during the RS auction were given a home on our school grounds.
The Young BizStarters academic week ended with the much anticipated business plan competition for students in Year 4-8. A panel of judges selected the best of these plans and awards were given. The students will be mentored and offered financial support by Banca Transilvania to bring their businesses to life over the coming year. Meanwhile our KS1 students served their colleagues breakfast in the newly opened Sunflower restaurant. The day culminated with a much-anticipated special edition assembly, where lots of awards were given. Our students also celebrated with a BizYNight, their very first sleep-over party that took place on the Friday Night.
We look forward to the next edition of Young BizStarters and thank everyone involved!
P.S. you can find more pictures on our Facebook page
