Meet Mr. Mangan
Our work in the area high schools would not be possible without the amazing teachers who donate time in their classroom to us, one day a week for 10 weeks.
Mr. Mangan is one of these teachers. For four semesters, he has welcomed LAUNCH into his classroom at The Howard School. Why would a social studies teacher allow for class time to be spent on entrepreneurship? He explains, “It seemed like a great opportunity for students to explore an area otherwise unavailable to them in school, so I did not hesitate in allowing LAUNCH into my classroom. I was really interested to see how a class of students would react to the opportunity to create a business.”
Over the course of the semester, Mr. Mangan has witnessed the students’ outlooks, which he noticed changes as they get further into the program.
“Students tend to be really hesitant at the beginning, like ‘I can’t do this!’ Their initial reaction is to something foreign to them and several of them will try to reject the opportunity at first. As time goes by, and as the direction from the LAUNCH instructors enlightens them, they tend to find their motivation and work in their teams to recognize problems and work toward solutions.”
When asked if he has a favorite memory or part of the program, Mr. Mangan answered with the paperclip challenge, an activity where students are tasked to come up with as many uses for a paperclip as possible. “It was eye opening to see students really think outside the box and come up with so many valid ways to use a paperclip.”
Although he claims he is not business minded, Mr. Mangan says he has also learned from LAUNCH and highly recommends getting involved. “If you have ever had the slightest inkling of having your own business and being your own boss (or if you watch Shark Tank and keep thinking ‘I can do that.’) then you should take the opportunity to be involved with LAUNCH. I am not a business-minded person, but I feel like I continue to learn things from LAUNCH every time they are in my room.”
Thank you Mr. Mangan, not only for your time but your clear dedication to the students in your classroom.
