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8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 25, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Crime Prevention Starts in the Neighbourhood www.oakvilleneighbourhoodwatch.ca n-one Spec Hole-i ial A 20% off all "in-shop" window repairs. You bring in the frame... we'll put in your glass. 48 hour turnaround (in-shop sealed unit replacements will take 7-10 business days) Sale ends August 2, 2008 LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER IN BUSINESS: Enterprising youths being recognized for their achievements in the 2008 Summer Company program are: in front, from left,Adrian Paris, Oakville Music Lessons; Jennifer Eldridge, Dynamic Aquatics;Teanna Lobo,The Real Estate Assistant; and, Courtney Bruce, I Get It Tutoring. In back, from left, Max Tarazona, Condor Studios, Alek Dubras, In Home Fine Dine; Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr; Ben Ramirez, Green Blue Landscaping; and, Yanicke Parkinson, Yanicke's Tutoring Business. 550 Bronte Rd., Oakville 905.827.2951 You can call them boss By Hiba Kesebi SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Supplemental Education - Why? Today, more and more parents consider a supplemental education program to be an absolute necessity to ensure a complete education for their children. "Given the way school budgets are being slashed these days, I just don't think an average education is sufficient," says David Drum, a Toronto parent. "The real purpose of education is to prepare children to become successful adults. Children need confidence and self-esteem to equip them for their learning challenges for the rest of their lives." Oxford Learning Centres spokesperson, Kelley McGregor says it's just like arts and sports programs that many students pursue outside of school. "If my daughter showed an aptitude for music I would enroll her in music lessons," she says. "I would never expect the school system to fully develop her music potential. Given all the challenges the school system faces today, it's the same with academic programs. It's unrealistic to think that any school system can give a child all the education he or she needs to develop as a successful adult." Most commercial tutoring programs focus on academic skill tutoring using a behavior modification process. A famous Japanese company offers a home-study program that focuses on mastery through repetition. The programs offered by Oxford Learning Centres, Canada's largest supplemental educator, encourage students to understand the material they are learning. The Oxford program develops underlying cognitive (learning) skills as well as academic skills. Over the past 19 years, Oxford's educators have developed programs that fix problems rather than just cure this year's crop of difficulties. Some parents fear that a supplemental program will tire their child out. After all, she has been sitting in school all day," is the rationale. The answer often amazes. As any parent knows, no child tires of doing things they like doing. Think back to when they were little ones; how they played at school. They wanted to learn. They loved discovering and mastering new skills. What happened? Why did this change? The truth is that it didn't change. Kids who do well in school, feel confident and enjoy school. Oxford's programs help kids to rediscover that love of learning. And they do more if they help kids learn how to learn. They show them that they are capable of achievement. With this knowledge comes a deep-seated feeling that they are OK, that they can understand the world, that they can cope. That is called self-esteem and it does not come from attention alone. Nor does it come from praise. In fact, the opposite is true. A recent study showed that students who were praised and recognized for their effort, but who neither achieved nor learned how to achieve (to learn), lost self-esteem. The Oxford program was designed specifically to teach students how to learn, to give them the sense of control over their own minds and to build true self-esteem. "Too many children just memorize their way through school. Supplemental programs enrich the entire education process," says Drum. "They are part of our family's educational experience and they will stay that way." By R. N. Whitehead "As early as 3 years old builds good learning habits which is fundamental in developing the whole person" says Nicole Sutton , educational director of Oxford Learning Oakville South. Voted Best Learning Centre A better future for your child starts here! Contact us today for more information. www.oxfordlearning.com Ask about our little reader program. OAKVILLE NORTH 1131 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville (905) 469-1929 OAKVILLE SOUTH Maple Grove Village 511 Maple Grove Dr. Maple Grove Plaza (905) 849-4027 His parents decided to call him Ben Ramirez, but just less than a month ago, he became a business owner, and now his friends call him boss. Ramirez or boss, 18, is currently taking part in the Summer Company program, which offers teens and young adults, between the ages of 15 and 29, the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and start a small business. Ramirez's business: Green Blue Landscaping, which offers services in lawn maintenance and pool and car cleaning. There are currently six people working for his business. Ramirez, who graduated from Holy Trinity Catholic School this year, heard about the program through a presentation made by Margaret Gaskell, Summer Company co-ordinator. "Margaret came and talked to my class about starting up your business and said they'd fund all our start-up costs and even have mentors to help us along with way with our challenges I thought to myself why not, I have to start building my empire somewhere," joked Ramirez. The Summer Company, coordinated by the Ontario Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, aims to help young people establish a business and experience self-employment. "The program's unique formula: A combination of training and encouragement by enterprise centre staff, mentoring by local entrepreneurs and up to $3, 000 in awards from the Ministry," explained Ted Northcott, regional advisor of the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services. Before venturing off to fulfill their customers' needs, the participants are required to complete a business plan. Once their plan is accepted by Halton Region and the Summer Company program, the students are given $1,500 to start their business. From there, the students are expected to put in a certain number of hours over an eightweek period and attend meetings. If all of these things are met by the end of August, they will receive an additional $1,500. But it isn't just the money that this year's nine Halton students benefited from. Rather, they benefited from the support of eight mentors, who offer their time to guide the participants. Robert White, Business Advisory Associates, was one of those mentors. "I talked to them about how to market a service and how to price services," explained White, who mentored Ramirez and Adrian Paris, owner of Oakville Music Lessons -- which offers in-home piano and guitar lessons. "Both of them wanted to have the cheapest rates. I encouraged them to research the market and find reasonable competitive prices, and then set their own." According to Paris, White's help was profound. "He helped me re-design a website, contact clients, and advertise," said the second-year political science student at York University. Paris said he got the idea of opening up his business after struggling to get piano lessons, himself. "I couldn't drive. I had to get my dad to drive me around to and from. He couldn't do it. I was looking, looking and couldn't find anything. So I decided that I needed to start my own business to provide this service to the community." Like Paris, most of the participants started their business from personal experiences or interests. Courtney Bruce's I Get It Tutoring, is an example. Bruce, a recent graduate of Queen's University with a bachelor of arts honours, decided to create a tutoring business because she believed her extensive experience as a tutor would be an asset. "My hope for my company is that I can make a positive impact on students who are struggling with their school work. I will do this by challenging students to think through the problem and creating an open atmosphere." Bruce said she started her business in May, a lot earlier than most other participants, because she wanted to be there for the students before exam time. "Before exams I had 10 students, and five of them stayed. I also put in six hours at Sheridan College tutoring English," she added. According to Northcott, 28 per cent of the Summer Company's past participants remain self-employed after the program, 22 per cent continue to operate the business they launched under the program and 99 per cent will recommend the program to a friend. This year's Summer Company entrepreneurs include: I Get It Tutoring, 905399-1510; In Home Fine Dine, 289-878-9408; Dynamic Aquatics, 905-466-7288; Kustom Technologies, 289-813-4TEK; The Real Estate Assistant, 905484-6543; Oakville Music Lessons, 416-999-7709, Yanicke's Tutoring Business, 905-531-1791; Green Blue Landscaping, 905-599-3038; and Condor Studios, 416-985-6298.