KCK business teacher re-imagines school space as student-led classroom coworking
August 24, 2018 | Austin Barnes
Nobody’s going to tell you what to do here, Sheyvette Dinkens said passionately. The Wyandotte High School business teacher recently began transforming her space at school into classroom coworking.
“I want students to be able to guide their own education,” she said. “I want to be able to facilitate their learning, and I want them to make the choices.”
The bell rang on Dinkens’ coworking idea at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. She and her students toured several Kansas City coworking sites and researched their inner workings, ultimately envisioning an alternative learning environment with an entrepreneurial edge, now dubbed Suite 1886 — in honor of the year Wyandotte High School was established.
“If we have business students that are trying to develop entrepreneur skills, then I think they need to know the environment that a lot of entrepreneurs are working in,” Dinkens said.
Students’ innovation skills are being put to the test as Suite 1886 takes shape, she said. The students who fill Dinkens’ Applied Business Development class are leading the project, she added.
The group is currently working to secure sponsorships and donations –– both monetary and in the form of furniture/accessories –– to overhaul the dated aesthetic of the nearly 100-square-foot classroom.
Click here to check out an Amazon wishlist of potential donations for the Suite 1886 space.
The students will decide how the coworking space operates and assist in its management, Dinkens said.
“There’s so many relationships that are built within coworking spaces that it’s amazing,” she said, highlighting the collaborative efforts the environment could inspire for students. “I want students to come back to school and mimic that same thing with their peers.”
Sixty-eight percent of people who make use of coworking spaces found themselves better focused, Dinkens said, calling it a perfect model for producing enhanced student learning outcomes.
She hopes the space will be fully operational by December.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Mom-and-popping it: Nounou platform curates trusted babysitters for JoCo families
Nounou Neighbors takes the fear out of the surprisingly cutthroat babysitting industry, said Molly Smalley, noting her online platform raised 200 percent client base growth in 2018. “As a mom, finding [a babysitter] is exhausting and friends never want to give you their sitter,” laughed Molly, founder of the Kansas-based babysitting service with her husband,…
Doob in doubt: 3D-printed action figures fighting to secure a paying audience in KC
Business isn’t what it should be for a company as innovative as Doob 3D, Nick Nikkhah said openly, seated on a leather couch that looked out across the Overland Park retail store’s showroom. “People don’t know what to do with [Doob]. They’re just like, ‘Whoa, what is that?’ … It’s a new thing for me.…
Reports: St. Louis startup scene surging while KC struggles to keep pace with past wins
Founders hoping to launch a new startup or move into a fresh market might have better success in St. Louis, rather than Kansas City, according to Inc. magazine’s Surge Cities Index. Inc. placed St. Louis at No. 33 on its 50 Best Places in America for Starting a Business list. Kansas City was positioned at…
Documentary spotlighting CAPS students set for sold-out premiere (Watch the trailer)
There’s no syllabus for life, laments a teenage student in a soon-to-be released documentary detailing the impact of experiential learning on the new generation of youth about to enter the workforce. The documentary — “Where Students Lead” — heavily showcases student voice and the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, said Corey Mohn, executive director of…