dreamfleur Creative Inspiration Suite

(This was originally posted on my youth site www.DreamerENT.com).

“Does your school cafeteria serve too much greasy, unhealthy food?”

That’s the question 14-year-old Wyntergrace Williams, daughter of television show host Montel Williams, is asking as she speaks out in favor of vegetarian school lunch options. Supported by the organization PCRM, she’s spreading the word about vegetarian diets, and launched a petition to Congress to ask for changes in school lunch menus. She recently spoke about her passion for more veggie options in a recent television ad (which you can watch below), and she also wrote a letter to the Obama girls, Malia and Sasha, for their support.

More About Wyntergrace and the Campaign:

Wyntergrace Williams, daughter of television show host Montel Williams, has joined PCRM to help spread the word about the importance of vegetarian options in school lunches.

Wyntergrace is 14 years old, and three years ago, she changed to a vegetarian diet out of compassion for animals and for health concerns. She persuaded her mother to join her, and now she wants to make sure kids across the country have access to healthful vegetarian foods.

Wyntergrace attends a middle school in Greenwich, Conn. She loves her school but noticed it needed more vegetarian options in the lunch line. Realizing that many other students were also looking for healthier cafeteria meals, she started a petition to get healthful foods in her school.

The petition said, “Whether we choose them out of compassion for animals, or because of concerns about health or the environment, we all benefit from having plant-based meals available. We want to work with our cafeteria to make these new healthful offerings a success.”

The school was not hard to convince. PCRM is now working with the food service managers to test and implement new vegan meal options.

Eager to help all students find healthier foods at school, Wyntergrace was the first to sign PCRM’s national petition to Congress—and she asks that all students and concerned adults across the country sign the petition to gain support for more vegetarian options in school lunches.

Does your school cafeteria serve too much greasy, unhealthy food? Bad food is unfair to you and can risk your health over the long run. But now is the time for you to ask Congress for the healthy school lunches that you deserve.

Tell Congress that students deserve healthy foods—more vegetables, fruits, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages.

Learn more about Wyntergrace’s petition drive to persuade Congress for more vegetarian options in school meals by visiting www.HealthySchoolLunches.org.

I had the opportunity to be featured in the upcoming entrepreneurship education textbook from the Network Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, or NFTE. This was such a blessing to me because NFTE was the organization that helped me start a business as a teen.

The feature is about cultivating relationships to help your business succeed. The textbook entitled Entrepreneurship: Owning Your Future is used in the NFTE curriculum to teach high school students the art of starting and running a business. NFTE is the program that enabled Julene to start her own marketing business when she herself was in high school.

Read a portion of the feature below:

Relationship Building: The Art of Success
When Julene Fleurmond was in the tenth grade, she entered a Web design contest at her South Miami high school. “I began teaching myself how to use different Web-design programs,” she said. “I didn’t think I would win, and I won first place.”

Relationships Lead to Business
Along with being awarded a scholarship, Julene also impressed one of the judges, who asked her to work with his organization, the National Urban League, on other projects. Julene began doing community service projects. She researched how to operate a creative graphic design business, took on internships at other firms, networked with professors and mentors, and made sure her work was on a professional level.

After two years of freelancing, Julene started Envibrance Studios, a media and promotional company that creates Websites, multimedia, creative content, and publications. Envibrance’s motto is “Envision the possibilities; we’ll bring them to life.” Julene was confident about providing her services, but she didn’t feel confident about pricing them…

Relationships That Count
In the beginning, Julene tried to do everything herself. Eventually she found that “Asking for help is not some thing you should be afraid of. Sometimes I would ask other designers I knew to do part of a project. Or we would collaborate if I didn’t know how to do something. They would do one part of it and I would do the other.”

Julene also learned how to take on projects that she’s passionate about. “My genre now is mostly youth-oriented organizations or organizations that cater to youths. Having a genre or an audience that I’m very passionate about really helps me to be more passionate about my work.”

Her advice to other entrepreneurs is to make sure they’re passionate about whatever they do, even if others say it won’t be profitable.

“I think that if you pursue what you’re truly passionate about and what you were made to do, financial benefits and everything else will follow naturally.”

Continue Reading »

Sweat Equity Enterprises is an awesome organization that allows high school students in the New York area to design and produce their own fashion products. Instead of going out to buy the latest fashions, these teens create their own…

The student participants gain intensive design, technology and entrepreneurship training as they develop original graphic, product, or apparel designs from concept to prototype in partnership with a company partner. Past projects include bags and outerwear for Marc Ecko Enterprises, graphic design for New York Cares and Abada Capoeira, shoes for Skechers, watches for Callanen/Timex, package design for Dr. Miracles Hair Care Products, skateboards for Zoo York, cars for Nissan, and electronics for RadioShack.

Check out the video below of students describing their products and learn more about Sweat Equity Enterprises at their website, www.sweatequityenterprises.org.

Steve Harvey is looking for 100 students to take part in Disney’s Dreamers Academy (application deadline, Friday, October 2, 2009). The program “takes creative and imaginative teens from across the country & immerses them in a mind-blowing, life-changing experience they’ll never forget. The teens will have hands-on experience with Disney Cast Members, executives and celebrity guests, who all share their blueprints for success. For more information and to apply, go to www.steveharvey.com/disneysdreamersacademy.

Want to meet the 2009 Dreamers? Click here to read their profiles.

School is back in session, but sometimes it’s what students do after school that makes the biggest impact on their life. Do Something and JCPenney have teamed up to support youth-led after school programs and projects across the country.

How much: 10 $500 grants and 5 grand prize $1,000 grants. Each winner will also receive a limited-edition Flirtitude Tote.
Deadline: September 15th
Types of projects this grant funds: Projects started by young people who are providing after school activities that help youth in their community.

To apply visit: http://www.dosomething.org/grants/afterschool

Image Source: Ten9Eight Website

(This was originally posted on my youth site www.DreamerENT.com. I’m an alumna of NFTE, an organization that teaches youth about entrepreneurship and that motivated this teen to start his own custom guitar company. To find out more about how you or someone you know can take part in NFTE visit www.nfte.com.)

14-year-old Alexander Niles, a middle-school student from South Florida, is mixing his love of guitars with entrepreneurship, creating custom guitars that he will sell on his online store. He constructs each guitar from scratch, and creatively embellishes them to the customer’s liking.

Alexander received his business training from the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship NFTE, a great program for elementary to high school students that helps them build their own businesses. You can learn more about his company in this article in the South Florida Business Journal. Watch Alexander rocking out on his own custom guitar in the video below from the upcoming documentary Ten9Eight: Shoot For the Moon, which features several other young entrepreneurs. For more information about NFTE, visit http://nfte.com.