The Bergen Record
By Hugh R. Morley, Staff Writer
October 13, 2005

While some educators worry that Johnny can't read, it's his business acumen - or lack of it - that irks the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

The trade group on Wednesday unveiled a middle-school curriculum designed to help educators boost business literacy by teaching subjects such as math, branding, marketing design and the history of entrepreneurialism.

The move was sparked by entrepreneurs' complaints that job applicants often don't match up to the demands of jobs they are seeking, said Sara Bluhm, executive director of NJ PRO Foundation, the non-profit policy research arm of the association.

Businessmen and businesswomen constantly tell the association they "have a hard time finding skilled workers, or they are getting kids out of high school or college who aren't aware of the skills needed in the business world," she said.

The eight, 45-minute lesson plans - called Teaching Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Today - won't replace existing material in the state core curriculum. Instead, the association designed the plans for use alongside current methods of teaching reading, writing and math basics, the creators say.

In most cases, the lessons teach the same skills, but in a more business-oriented way, Bluhm said. For example, she said, "We are taking the grammar lesson and converting it into a lesson on how to produce a resume without any errors." Another class teaches multiplication by asking the student to set an hourly wage for the workforce and then calculate the size of the payroll.

Each class comes with an "entrepreneur spotlight," a short profile of a state businessman or businesswoman, among them Lisa Hirsh, CEO of Paterson-based Accurate Box Co., and JoAnn Trezza, human resources vice president for Arrow Group Industries of Wayne.

The New Jersey Education Association and the state Education Department have endorsed the curriculum, which was created with the help of eight teachers.

Aside from the strict educational value, the curriculum also may help students pick a career, said David Janosz, a technology teacher at Northern Valley Regional High School, who led the project.

"Students don't understand, particularly at the middle school level, what it's like to work in the real world," Janosz said.

"Hopefully, turning the students on to entrepreneurship [and] small business early, they will be more comfortable making a venture of their own."

The curriculum is free.