𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝑶.

Today, Edwardsville CEO turned four students into our class “guinea pigs” — and gave everyone else a front-row seat to the learning! 👀

Claire, Dylan, Edie, and Sutton sat down with Steve Cooper and Abel Anderson at First Mid Bank for a mock sponsor meeting, where they pitched their class business and presented potential partnership opportunities.

The twist? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨!🎥😳

The goal wasn’t perfection. In fact, it was just the opposite.

We wanted our students to see what works, learn from what doesn’t, uncover questions and details they hadn’t considered, and become more confident and prepared before they begin having these conversations in the real world.

Afterward, Steve and Abel joined the entire class to break down the meeting — what went well, what could be stronger, what questions they should anticipate, and how to approach future meetings as opportunities to build genuine 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨, not simply ask for sponsorship dollars.

👏 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐃𝐲𝐥𝐚𝐧, 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 for being brave enough to go first and allowing their experience to become a learning opportunity for everyone else!

And a huge thank you to Steve and Abel for creating an environment where our students could try, make mistakes, ask questions, receive honest feedback, and get better.

By the end of class, 26 students walked away better prepared for the conversations ahead.

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡.

That’s what learning looks like in CEO. 🚀

#EdwardsvilleCEO #CEOWOW #CommunityIsOurClassroom #ExperientialLearning #EntrepreneurialMindset