UPCYCLE & RECYCLE: ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY BUSINESS DAY IN INDONESIA HIGHSCOPE SCHOOL

Instilling an Ethical and Sustainable Entrepreneurial Spirit.

To develop entrepreneurial skills and enthusiasm from an early age among the younger generation, Sekolah HighScope Indonesia (SHI) carries out activities that involve all students in an effort to instill entrepreneurial values ​​so that they have a resilient mind and practice real life decision making. This series of activities is part of the BUSINESS DAY event, which has been carried out by SHI every year since 2001. This activity is related to the Social Studies subject and aims to prepare students to practice planning and carrying out the entrepreneurial process, gain experience, and foster an entrepreneurial spirit. in real situations.

The entrepreneurial spirit can spark curiosity and hone the skills that we call HighScope Indonesia Learner Outcomes. Such as solving problems (Expert Thinking), making innovative and creative work (Creativity & Innovation), collaborating in business (Synergistic Collaboration), and becoming an ethical leader (Ethical Leadership). Business Day is also an activity that triggers students to apply various social sciences, mathematics, language, fine arts, and technology science they learn in class to the business being developed.

The theme of Business Day 2019 is "Sustainability: Maker Culture." On this year's Business Day students are required to make their own work products using recycled materials, either in the form of recycle and/or upcycle. According to Bachrun Lihawa, Training, Research & Development Specialist HighScope Indonesia, "This theme was chosen to convey the message that students must be responsible for making an economic decision & action, especially with issues related to 'Save The Earth'. " This activity is an effort to build awareness and a sense of shared responsibility starting with the younger generation by forming a sustainability mindset, for example; not using plastic packaging, doing upcycling & recycling with hand made or machine technology assistance, and trying to achieve zero waste.

This activity was opened with a talk show inviting marketing expert Kafi Kurnia. He shared his experiences as a marketing practitioner with elementary and middle school students. Students are encouraged to develop ideas, work on them, and create things with real impact. Kafi advised "Building a business must start with ideas, imagination and innovation so that the results are unlimited. Entrepreneurs must dare to be wild, be adventurous, be hungry to make your business successful. "

On Business Day, the focus of activities carried out by students at each grade is unique. Grade K-1 students focus on buying and selling activities. Grade 2-3 students are given additional understanding of sales profits and are expected to benefit from buying and selling activities. While Grade 4-5 students begin to develop the right strategy to maximize sales activities, earn profits, and comply with applicable regulations. What's interesting about this activity at the elementary level is that students will transform their respective classrooms into an entrepreneurial space, suited with the business concept they have decided.

As for the Middle School, the students in grades 6-7 set up a company that sells products or services that are made according to the market analysis process they have done previously. The process also includes a strategy to find investors. On the day of the Business Day students will show and sell the products or services that have been prepared. Meanwhile, students in grades 8-9 will play the role of "government" that regulates the interaction of 3 economic actors: government, businessmen, and households. As a government, students are expected to be able to regulate and evaluate the economy that is being run to comply with the established regulations. Entrepreneurs are played by students from level K to level 7 with their respective businesses, and households are played by Business Day visitors (parents, teachers, and school staff).

Meanwhile, Patricia Hia, a parent of Arlene students in grades 6-7 of Sekolah HighScope Indonesia-TB.Simatupang, argues that the Business Day activity makes students see the world of entrepreneurship to be creative in making a product & train students to learn business planning and evaluate the results.