A Teenager Converts $8 into $1,000,000

The Detroit Free Press is running an article entitled, "$8 Grows to a Million on Teen's Website." The article states, "On the cusp of national fame, (Ashley) Qualls is planning to expand Whateverlife.com, which gets more visitors than Oprah.com. She wants to start a social network for the millions of teenage girls who flock to her Web site for free designs to decorate their MySpace pages." It continues, "Whateverlife.com generated a million dollars in revenue last year and is on track to do the same this year. Already, Qualls has turned down outside funding for her site and a verbal offer from someone willing to pay $5 million to buy her company." Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Younger Children

• Ask students to describe or show their favorite pictures or posters. Why do they like these particular pictures and/or posters? If they could take a picture of anything of what would they want to take a picture?
  
• Consider asking students to make a collage of pictures featuring their favorite sports team or their favorite hobby. If possible encourage students to post these projects online.
  
• If your students could make their own personal website and could put any design on it, what design would they use? Why would they use this design?
  
• Consider inviting students to design the background of a personal website. Even if student's don't develop their own websites, they could draw a background.
  
• What one project have your student completed of which they are most proud? Why are they most proud of this project? If they could change it in any way, would they? Why/why not?
  
• Consider asking students to select a piece of work that they have completed in the past week and include it in a portfolio of their work. Challenge them to explain why they have included this work.
  
• Do your students think that it's possible for a teenager to make more money at work than an adult? Why/why not? What do your students think that somebody has to do in order to make money?
  
• Ask your students to list as many different kinds of jobs of which they can think. Consider making a class list.
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Cusp; Pulse; Awe; and, "Coming Out Party".
  
• With reference to Qualls, the article explains, "She is growing up fast but possesses instincts for life and business that elude many girls her age." Ask students to explain and further develop this sentence in their own words.
  
• Students might develop a list of components that would comprise "instincts for life and business," in groups of two or three.
  
• Are students surprised that this young entrepreneur is a girl and not a guy? Why/why not? Do students think that girls are more likely to succeed in math and science than boys? Why/why not? What kinds of questions would students want answered before answering this question definitively? Why would they want these questions answered? What would it mean to succeed in math and science?
  
• Consider asking students to conduct an investigation into the relative rates at which boys and girls "succeed" in math and science.
  
• What do your students think is the difference between developing a creative business idea and following through to make sure that the idea is successful? Do they think that it would be easier to create the idea or to follow through and make sure it is successful? Encourage them to support their ideas
• These questions might prompt an interesting class discussion.