Tatiana Shilova, the Russian teacher: "All the activities represented in this project were an example of “how it is better to do” in Entrepreneurship education. The students not only acquired knowledge of the subject, learnt how to work in teams to discuss and overcome the problems, but also got to know a lot about another culture and style of life. Thank you for the opportunity to take part in such useful project."
Sonia Samaroo, NAF AOIT Director for Miami Dade County Public Schools:" U.S. Russia Digital Entrepreneurship Project provided the students at South Dade Senior High School the opportunity to learn the following skills: • Working collaboratively • Time management skills • Communication skills • Creating a business plan • Creating an e-commerce website • Working as a team • Travel regulations for visas and passports • Awareness of Cultural differences 16 • Geographical differences • Writing skills • Relationship skills • Accepting feedback in a positive manner Thank you very much for providing this amazing opportunity for the students.
Peter Corletto, the US classroom teacher: "Participating on this project with my US students and Russian teammates was a memorable experience. It allowed my high school students to collaborate on a technology and business project jointly with students from a Russian high school. Not only did they learn business and technology aspects, but they learned to communicate with students who come from a different cultural background. My students and their Russian teammates faced many challenges during the project. The most obvious project was communication. Not only did they have to overcome problems with the technological infrastructure and time-zone differences, but also English proficiency differences. Some of my US students and the Russian students are English language learners. Also, students had to adapt to conversations in English with different accents. Other major challenges our students had was meeting tight deadlines when completing the project milestones and being able to stay motivated throughout the project, in spite of some team members diminished participation. Despite all these challenges, our students were able to complete the project and semi-finalists were able to meet, face-to-face, for six days, in San Francisco, California. They were very happy to share experiences together, from sightseeing trips, dining together, and field trips to high technology and entrepreneurial organizations. Our students strengthened their interest in pursuing careers in information technology after visiting Cisco Corporation and Tech Shop in San Francisco. These were eye-opening experiences where they realized the bright future and career opportunities that they have ahead of them if they remain on the technology track. The most remarkable effect of this project was learning the fact that American and Russian teenagers are very similar".
Enzio Velazqueoni, student: "The Digital Entrepreneurship project for me was an amazing experience. The challenges that I was faced with allowed me to take on a different thinking approach I never really dwelled on before; to allow me the opportunity to perfect 17 on those areas as well. I was very glad to work together with my teammates, they were all amazing people; especially those from the Russian side. People I would have never met in my life time brought before me to unite for a common goal and succeed with. Over the course of the work I’ve come to know them as good friends rather than a teammate. I think it was really exciting when our ideas started to pour out in the beginning of the project and got to work on it! Then to finally meet my allies in San Francisco was an event I will cherish for the rest of my life. All in all, I was really glad I got to take part in this project. These once-in-a-lifetime experiences really don’t come often, but are golden when they do".
Carlos Ruiz, student: "The Russian-US project was very interesting for me because we got to collaborate with students with different cultural backgrounds and taught me that we are not very different . I connected a lot with them music and movies, etc. We also learned great things from the trip to San Francisco. We learned new and innovating things at the Cisco Headquarters and also a lot of exciting technologies used in the world of IT and business fields. We got to see the Russian consulate and how their system works. It was very exciting to see Russian government officials and learn how they love to work for their country. Overall, this trip was an unforgettable moment in my life that will always be with me".
Julian Mejia, student: "The project that my partner, Alejandro, and I were involved (Russian-US) was an amazing experience that I will never forget because I met amazing people and got to know better my classmates that were with us in this great adventure. I also got to know better Mr. Corletto and Ms. Susy who were the ones that took care of us. But it was great to meet the Russians as well; we were having conversations about everything. The places we went to were amazing because it was all new to me and I loved San Francisco and its beautiful environment. It was a great experience to visit Cisco, Intel, the Golden Bridge, the Russian Consulate and every place we went to"/