The NetWork Kansas Entrepreneurship Community Partnership recognizes five teachers every year for their efforts with the competition. There are many talented educators across the state who deserve recognition, with one of those being Hays High business teacher Silas Hibbs.

On Jan. 28, he received a Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Series (YEC) award for his work and dedication to teaching about entrepreneurship.

“I was very surprised, as I had no idea it was coming, nor did I expect it,” Hibbs said. “I felt as if I was just trying to do my job to the best of my ability; I don’t necessarily feel I ‘earned’ it whatsoever. I simply feel I was doing my job.”

The educators awarded have been involved in the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Series since the beginning of the program and/or have made great effort to keep the students engaged in youth entrepreneurship.

Local entrepreneurship competitions must meet certain guidelines in order to qualify as part of the series and to be eligible to use E-Community funds to pay for part or all of the competition. This series gave Kansas students the hands-on experience of thinking entrepreneurially.

“I feel entrepreneurship is important because it allows a person to dream big and reach to achieve those dreams and goals,” senior Lauren Wagner said. “In entrepreneurship, there are no boundaries. We are the ‘movers and shakers,’ as Mr. Hibbs likes to say. Entrepreneurship allows the owners to live a life controlled by themselves. It helps people think outside the box and believe in themselves. It also instills many important life skills, such as grit, responsibility, integrity and determination. Mr. Hibbs stops at nothing to teach his students real-world situations, expand their minds, add skillsets to the students and create a positive environment for kids to gain great feedback.”

According to Hays Post, “In 2020, 793 students from more than 45 Kansas communities participated in the YEC series.” This spring, the YEC series is looking forward to the ideas and projects created, as students and teachers gear up for the culmination of the eighth annual season.

“Entrepreneurship is so important, because it is the factor of production that creates legitimate, long-term value for society in sustainable, cost-effective ways,” Hibbs said. “Entrepreneurs are at the cutting edge of society with respect to value creation.”

VentureDash is an online entrepreneurship competition management system designed to streamline the facilitation of entrepreneurship fairs and business plan competitions that hosted a successful YEC event. The system was created by Moonbase Labs based out of Wichita.

To track the participation numbers, one of the VentureDash’s features is to allow entrepreneurs, judges and mentors to register for the local competition. The judges then calculate the winners on their own after using the scoring system to evaluate and enter scores.

“The students should be the ones receiving all the credit; they make my job easy,” Hibbs said.

21avredenburg@usd489.com