Applying an Entrepreneurial Approach in Our Daily Lives
June 28, 2021
The Ice House program takes its name from an everyday problem facing the residents of Mississippi: summer heat. Today, getting ice is as easy as walking over to the dispenser in our kitchens. In the early 1900s though, customers made frequent trips to their local ice houses to buy ice in 25- or 50-pound blocks. Solving the problem of keeping food cold during sweltering Southern summers didn’t take a degree in rocket science—or much formal…
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What Is Self-Directed Learning (and Why Do We Need It)?
June 16, 2021
Children are innately curious—sometimes to the point where they overwhelm the adults around them with their constant questions. One can easily imagine that the old expression “Curiosity killed the cat” was first spoken by a parent who was tired of being asked “Why?” for the millionth time by a curious preschooler. This curiosity implies a drive towards self-directed learning. The desire to learn and explore is the driving force behind human development. It manifests…
Read moreDeveloping an Entrepreneurial Mindset on the Path to Recovery
May 14, 2021
Judy Raper never saw herself as someone whose entrepreneurial mindset would make an impact on her community. She might have pointed to her younger sister, a CEO, as the mover and shaker in the family. Then Raper learned a new definition of entrepreneurship as the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for others. She realized that by creating value for others, we empower ourselves. She realized that the Ice House training she…
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Five Ways an Entrepreneurial Mindset Addresses Interrupted Learning
April 28, 2021
Students who disengage from school tend to feel discouraged about their futures. They begin to lack hope. And without hope, they disengage further. This spiral impacts their academic performance, their learning, and their sense of self-direction. At The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, we’ve been concerned about this pattern for years—it’s one of the reasons that we’re so passionate about offering the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program to middle, high school, and college students. We believe that…
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Are You an Employee or an Entrepreneur?
January 14, 2021
If you’re like most, you probably think of an entrepreneur as someone who organizes and operates a business. Meanwhile, the rest of us think of ourselves as employees. And yet the world has changed in ways that now require everyone to think like an entrepreneur. As such, the distinction between employee and entrepreneur is rapidly becoming obsolete. A brief history It’s worth noting that the term “entrepreneur” emerged at the dawn of the industrial…
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