On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 Nell Rapport, Business teacher at Harvey High School in collaboration with Tim Kehres, Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Dominic Murray from Y.O.U. hosted the ECITY Breakfast/Celebration to welcome students in joining this year’s ECITY program at Harvey High School. Among the attendees to the welcoming celebration were PCLS district administrators and guests, former ECITY mentors and keynote speaker.

This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Brian Posler, President of Lake Erie College. Dr. Posler spoke to the students about entrepreneurship, encouraging them to think entrepreneurially whether they start their own business or just want to be successful in life.

Very special thanks to all of the ECITY mentors, Lubrizol and Tim Kehres, Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters, for continuing to support Harvey’s ECITY Program.

What is ECITY?

ECITY stands for “Entrepreneurship: Connecting, Inspiring, Teaching Youth” and it’s a part of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), which is a youth workforce development non-profit organization that empowers at-risk youth, ages 14-19 to succeed in school, in the workplace, and in life.

Choosing Harvey High School to pilot the program in 2009, ECITY is a collaborative effort coordinated by Nell Rapport and Time Kehres to recruit mentors for the students and advise the students and their mentors as they prepare for the competitions. This program is designed to empower students to be responsible for their own economic future by teaching entrepreneurship and life skills.

ECITY is structured on the belief that many teens have mental toughness, street smarts, survival instincts, and creativity – qualities that are key traits of successful entrepreneurship.