Published: October 31, 2009 11:34 am      

SIFE pitches in at Mendez Elem.

San Marcos — Texas State University students and members of the Texas State Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, Amanda Flores and Jenna Knouse, taught students from Brenda Butler’s fourth grade class at Mendez Elementary School about the principles of entrepreneurship and how to open your own business.

Flores and Knouse work with the kids twice a week.

The project, entitled "Global Gurus," teaches students about principles and concepts of free enterprise and economics. These principles included: Personal success skills, market economics, business ethics, entrepreneurship, profit, products and services, spending and saving and the sales process.

“Global Gurus” is about how entrepreneurs succeed by identifying a market need and then profitably producing and marketing a product or service to fill that need, a requirement given by SIFE headquarters.

“Global Gurus” also meets the Texas essential knowledge and skills requirements for basic understanding of economic principles.

SIFE is a global, non-profit organization intent on changing the world through student teams on more than 1,600 university campuses in 40 countries.

SIFE offers these students the opportunity to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise, thereby improving the standard of living for millions in the process.

Texas State SIFE is one of the leading collegiate teams within the United States.

The group has placed within the Top 20 at national competitions since 1997 and was the International Champion in 2000.

Flores graduated from Klein Collins High School in Spring in 2007. Knouse graduated from Ronald Regan High School in San Antonio in 2007.

Both are scheduled graduate from Texas State University-San Marcos in May with Bachelors in Business Administration and concentrations in Marketing.