A complete K–12-ready entrepreneurship curriculum for middle and high school classrooms. Two project-based tracks, fourteen units, and a real student venture at the end of each.
Entrepreneurship is the most efficient way to teach durable, real-world skills — problem-solving, financial literacy, communication, resilience, and self-direction — through work that feels meaningful to students. When students design a product, talk to customers, and pitch a business, they're learning math, writing, economics, and design at the same time. They're also learning that their ideas matter.
Most teachers want to teach this. Few have the training, the materials, or the time to build it from scratch. The Growing Founders curriculum gives any teacher — from any subject background — a turnkey, classroom-ready program backed by training, coaching, and a national community of educators.
Two distinct tracks, both project-based, both ending in something a student can show. The middle school track focuses on building the entrepreneurial mindset and ends with a pitch. The high school track culminates in students launching a real micro-business with real customers and real revenue.
Both tracks are mapped to Common Core literacy and math standards, the National Standards for Entrepreneurship Education (NSEE), and most state CTE business education frameworks. A state-specific alignment crosswalk is available as part of school partnerships.
This track gives students their first real exposure to entrepreneurship — not as a career, but as a way of seeing the world. By the end, every student has worked an idea from notice-a-problem to deliver-a-pitch.
Explore what entrepreneurs do, the mindset they share, and what makes a business different from a hobby. Students study real founders from a range of industries and backgrounds.
Great businesses start with real problems. Students practice noticing problems in their own school, home, and community, then learn structured idea generation.
An introduction to empathy interviews, customer surveys, and the idea that the customer, not the founder, decides what's valuable.
Prototyping at a middle school level: paper sketches, mockups, role-play, and sample products. Students make their idea tangible.
Pricing, costs, profit, and the basics of a simple budget. Students figure out what it would actually take to make and sell their idea.
Capstone unit: students prepare and deliver a 3-minute pitch to a panel of peers, teachers, or community judges.
The high school track is rigorous and culminates in a real launch. Students don't just write a business plan — they run a business. The track works as a semester elective, a full-year course, or a multi-year CTE pathway.
The history, types, and economic role of entrepreneurship. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and nonprofits — and when each one fits.
Going beyond "would you buy this?" Students learn structured customer discovery, survey design, competitive analysis, and how to read public market data.
The Business Model Canvas, revenue streams, unit economics, and the difference between an idea and a business.
Reading and building a P&L, the difference between cash flow and profit, break-even analysis, and personal finance fundamentals.
Students present their business concepts to a panel of real entrepreneurs, business leaders, and community judges. This mid-point checkpoint pushes students to sharpen their ideas before the final stretch.
Brand fundamentals, positioning, content and social marketing, and a hands-on intro to selling and customer service.
Contracts, intellectual property, regulations, and how to actually run a small business day-to-day.
Bootstrapping, loans, grants, crowdfunding, angels, and venture capital. When each makes sense, and when none of them do.
Students launch a real micro-business, generate revenue, serve real customers, and report back on what they learned.
Students present their completed ventures to an audience of friends, family, teachers, and community members. A celebration of what they built and a moment to share their entrepreneurial journey with the people who matter most.
Every teacher who completes the 6-week cohort gets the full materials package, plus ongoing access to coaching and our community of certified educators.
Lesson plans for every unit, slide decks, student handouts, project rubrics, and assessments — all editable in Google Docs / Slides format.
Live weekly workshops, walk-throughs of each unit, and dedicated time to adapt the curriculum to your classroom context.
Monthly office hours with a coach who has taught the curriculum themselves. Bring your hardest classroom problems.
A private community of certified teachers sharing lessons, student work, and answers to "has anyone tried this?"
A recognized Growing Founders certification plus professional development hours your district can apply toward renewal requirements.
Templates and judging rubrics for Shark Tank pitch session, the option to enter our national student showcase.
Virtual teacher training, an unlimited curriculum license for your school or district, implementation support, and end-of-year outcome reporting designed for boards, parents, and funders. Contact us for a tailored proposal.
Web: growingfounders.org
Email: hello@growingfounders.org
Growing Founders — Real-world business skills, K–12 ready.