The SYU recipe proves tempting for young people
The Speed You Up recipe works because it has all the ingredients to tempt young people into trying something new. First on the list is that SYU takes students out of ‘normal’ school. It doesn’t have to be a physical move. Creating scenarios or business ‘pop ups’ offers young people an opportunity to escape from the usual lessons and be a bit creative. They use problem-solving skills to solve real work problems in real-time. They use creative thinking skills to dream up business ideas that people will want.
They learn to negotiate when team problems arise, and in doing so they learn how to try and work as a team instead of an individual. They get a chance to shine because they may not be great in the ‘school’ maths lesson but they are great at working out the equation of sales -costs = profit. They may be really shy in lessons, not very popular, hardly know – then suddenly they have this amazing talent for creating PowerPoints that make their presentation wow the audience. Now the other team wishes they had them on their team.
The SYU recipe helps link young people to the outside world, by talking to their community, researching what other businesses are offering, and finding out what sells in a particular area. The outside coming in through collaborations with local businesses is the icing on the SYU cake. Hearing from people in the business world is a special window to the outside world. When students find themselves in front of the marketing manager of a local organisation they don’t hold back in asking the questions – “how much do you get paid, what did you do after you left school”? This is the motivation they need to work harder. Suddenly lessons have a purpose…when you only get pocket money…young people see the route to getting more…through education or further training. This is when the SYU recipe has worked its magic.