The past year has been a whirlwind of entrepreneurial education as we make great strides in teaching at-risk youth about starting their own businesses. But we can't forget the trailblazers in this movement, like ACE and others, and now the intellectual technology of Print Gocco.
Jack Mariotti, a talented teachers of youth entrepreneurship, was an expert with it. Today, he is the executive of an innovative company within the brain-imaging field, where he and his team pioneer Parkinson's research.
Print Gocco
Jack used Print Gocco in teacher trainings and it helped to start many businesses. The product was a printing press with enough materials to create brochures, cards and other simple items. Every student, mentor, and teacher could create their own product to sell or trade. He says:
It was a great hands on educational tool--a really fun and fast paced 3-hour lesson on a simple manufacturing business. Kids in groups made a business plan and implemented the production of a product like greeting cards, baby clothes, printed tee shirts, etc--all in one afternoon.
It was a wonderful way to pass three hours of great intellectual learning in this beloved field of youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Not only would the child have a product without having to go to the wholesale market, but they would also have experience making it, and hence would be exposed to the craft of manufacturing, perhaps the hardest activity to teach in youth entrepreneurship.
I remember slowly opening the cover of the box with joy, examining and admiring the simple, brilliant technology. One of the only remaining copies of Print Gocco, in the form of a simple cardboard box from Japan, sits in the back of my office near the window. Occasionally, I show my treasure to a guest; sometimes, I slide my hand over the top with my eyes closed, to relive the excitement of using it in class so many years ago.
It was one of the best ways ever to teach young people to make something that could be sold for a profit.