Among the last booths standing at an October IDEA Club Marketplace in the Colangelo College of Business courtyard at Grand Canyon University were a makeshift bakery and a barbecue stand.
GCU students often sell homemade food at IDEA Club-sponsored events, but these stands were different.
Both were operated by Northern Valley Christian Academy high school students as part of the college's latest project – Entrepreneurship 3000 – which aims to inspire 3,000 future student entrepreneurs to join GCU by December 2025.
The project is led by three GCU applied entrepreneurship students – Jonathan McKee, Micah Alexander and Logan Middleton – under the guidance of professor and Canyon Ventures Founding Director Robert Vera.
“I was in STEM in high school, and I had a lot of ideas and a lot of ideas around me, but there was no one to help turn it into something real,” said Middleton, an entrepreneurial studies major. “So for me, going through GCU’s classes and learning about entrepreneurs and learning to be an entrepreneur and turning your ideas into something real, I want to go back and start it earlier.”
GCU already has signed a partnership with North Valley Christian Academy, said McKee, a GCU student entrepreneur and owner of three startup companies. And several other high schools are under serious consideration.
“For me, it’s really exciting as a principal to see our students see this role and want to look at going in this direction, pushing themselves, using skills they’ve learned within their classes to be able to apply that to real-life situations and the learning process that’s going on with them and walking through this,” the high school's principal, Jason Mitchell, said.
Head of School Chris Schoenleb was interest in growing the school's business academy and was impressed by a pitch delivered by McKee, Alexander and Middleton, so he hired them as consultants. Mitchell observed the GCU IDEA Club’s Marketplace in April, specifically the student involvement and dollars of merchandise sold.
McKee, Alexander and Middleton continue to attend the high school's business class, in which students are required to create their own business and learn to market their products. The GCU trio lends advice and provides feedback to the students.
In the meantime, GCU’s efforts are fortified by Connor Vicary, who elevated the IDEA Club’s profile and strengthened his faith during his time as a GCU undergraduate.
This led to the creation of a graduate student assistantship for Vicary, with financial support from entrepreneur and Colangelo College of Business board member Anthony Sarandrea. Sarandrea, who is successful in the insurance and financial services industries, funded Vicary’s position, CCOB Dean John Kaites said.
In his new role, Vicary is equally committed to expanding the number of entrepreneurial students.
"I focus on speaking to high school students about my journey – what GCU did for my life because it changed everything for me," said Vicary, who enrolled at GCU with hopes of playing for the men’s golf team. "The resources, the opportunities in clubs, and most importantly, the relationships I built with Christ have all been amazing."
Vicary has collaborated with Associate Dean Dr. Allison Mason, Entrepreneurship Chair Tim Kelley, Vera and Kaites to help provide tours and assist in recruiting new students.
"We’ve created a mini-GCU entrepreneurship ecosystem that can be implemented in high schools across the country, sparking entrepreneurial spirit in their students and allowing them to complete their journey as part of the GCU ecosystem,” Kaites said. "Our goal is to reach 3,000 entrepreneurship students. We’re close to 1,000 now, but by helping high schools develop their entrepreneurship programs, we believe we can achieve that goal."
Savannah Burgara is already on her way. A dual enrollment student at North Valley Christian, she will be a junior when she enrolls at GCU full time next fall. Despite taking only two online courses at GCU, Burgara already has become an IDEA Club member.
"I’ve always loved baking, so I started this bakery stand to make some extra money to cover my dual enrollment costs," said Burgara. Her stand was located near fellow North Valley Christian students Brody Cicalese, Brody Sanchez and Ethan Anderson, who were selling barbecue sliders. "Eventually, I want to open my own equine rescue and rehabilitation center with a therapy program for kids," she added.
Burgara was initially attracted to GCU because of its Christian values after taking a few tours. In addition to her high school coursework, she is also enrolled in Bible and communication classes online at GCU.
Although her workload is heavy, Burgara has the full support of her mother, Cindy.
"She’s very motivated,” Cindy said as Savannah packed up her bakery stand. "She comes up with all these ideas, and it’s all her. She’s incredibly self-driven."
McKee can relate to Savannah’s drive to succeed.
“As a high school student, I always was doing side jobs, various jobs, whether it was selling things on Facebook Marketplace, or powerwashing,” said McKee, a business entrepreneurship major. “I know that whenever I came to GCU, I took sales from where I was to where I am now.
“It motivated me to start younger in the high schools because I know when I was in high school, if I had something we’re providing for the high schools, there’s no telling where I would have been today with the help that we provide the schools. It’s really to give back and make a difference in their futures, for sure.”
Alexander added the blend of textbooks and lectures, combined with extracurricular activities such as marketplaces, provide a solid foundation.
“You can’t beat experience, and that’s what I believe, too,” Alexander said.
And the hands-on experience and wisdom stand out, with GCU aiming to sign partnerships with at least a dozen Valley high schools in the next six months.
"The real product we offer at GCU isn’t our gyms, beautiful campus or classrooms," Vera said. "It’s students like Jonathan McKee, Micah Alexander, Logan Middleton and Connor Vicary. When they communicate how they leverage the GCU entrepreneur ecosystem ... it’s a testament to what we’re doing."
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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