San Antonio seems to be leading the country for entrepreneurs, makers, creators and developers. We have local businesses like Geekdom paving the way and making national headlines, successful local businesses like Rackspace that encourage creativity in halls of their campus, a world-class children’s museum that is being built right here in San Antonio around the idea of hands-on activity and a whole generation of parents that are wanting a new approach to learning for their children. We are beyond thrilled to welcome VentureLab into the landscape of encouraging an entrepreneur spirit to kids in San Antonio.
Founded by Cristal Glangchai in 2013, VentureLab has hopes to reinvent education…and we’re pretty convinced they are well on their way. The VentureLab team believes that knowledge is gained by doing, by creating, by making. They say it best themselves, “(we) introduce, inspire and encourage young people to enter and succeed in technical, creative and entrepreneurial fields.” Children aren’t sitting in a classroom being “taught” in the traditional sense. Children are being given the tools to create an idea and make it happen. They learn to design products and then pitch the products, just like an entrepreneur would do.
VentureLab is taking STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) to a different level. While there has been a surge in STEM education, it lacks in the entrepreneurial aspect that teaches calculated risks, innovation and critical thinking. VentureLab focuses on their ESTEAM framework (Entrepreneurship, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), which adds the creativity, self-drive and “how to get it done” entrepreneurship that is missing from STEM.
VentureLab offers classes for kids of all ages, starting with the littlest learners at 5 years old, all the way to classes designed for high school students. VentureLab offers specialized courses in focus areas such as Gamers where students learn to develop and launch their own game company, Music teaching kids what it takes to become a music producer, Film where students learn to shoot, edit and create their own film, and Robots with lasers, 3-D printing and robots. We especially love that VentureLab has a focus on educating girls to be entrepreneurs and innovators. Almost all of their classes have a “Girls Only” option and their Girl Start Up 101 provides girls with a hands on knowledge of what it takes to start their own company.
VentureLab’s summer classes are now available for registration online. Week-long classes are available for children ages 5-18 from 9am – 3pm and run all summer long. Registration discounts are offered through May 2!
www.venturelab.org
Live chat to answer any questions is available Monday-Friday, 8am – 5pm
