In Park Slope, Brooklyn, there seems to be a budding community of families raising children with an entrepreneurial heart. They are all supporting each other’s efforts, sharing ideas, and giving their kids exciting projects that will prepare them for the future.
Nine-year-old Jonah Bernstein-Schalet is a fanatic for the new, popular kids toy Beyblades. They are spinning tops that kids can battle with; whoever is the last one spinning wins. In late September, Bernstein-Schalet held his own Beyblade tournament in Prospect Park, just two months after coming up with the idea.
With at least 50 people in attendance and 24 kids competing, Bernstein-Schalet’s event was a great success. He even managed to get a local toy store to sponsor the event by providing a free Beyblade and Beyblade stadium to the winner of the event. But how did it all happen? He hardly had any help from his parents, or even his big sister.
Bernstein-Schalet did, however, have passion — and a life coach, Anthony Recenello of CharismaticKid. Recenello works exclusively with children and encouraged Bernstein-Schalet to make this event happen. He didn’t do much of the heavy lifting, Bernstein-Schalet did. When Bernstein-Schalet wanted to make flyers for the event, Recenello brought his computer over and showed him how to use Photoshop. The next day, Bernstein-Schalet and his friend put up flyers around the neighborhood.
Bernstein-Schalet needed to set a date and place for the event, and being a kid, he didn’t have much money to make it happen, so he chose the park, because it didn’t cost him anything. (Of course, anyone hoping to host an event in the park should contact its Special Events office before sending out invitations.)
The day of the tournament, an overwhelming number of families came out to see if this tournament was the real deal. And they were surprised to find that it was being run by a 9-year-old boy and his friends.
There are plenty of other kids in Park Slope who will amaze you, including Aric Shah, a 6-year-old who came up with his own idea for a video game, and then worked with his parents to get his idea out there and funded by video game lovers of New York City. Shah, his 8-year-old brother, and some friends went around town with a babysitter to hand out flyers to encourage neighbors to visit the website, www.stuffedanimalsmashdown.com, and donate.
Sisters Zoe and Sophia are running an art gallery in town [name of gallery and where is it located??] featuring their art, as well as the art of their friends. They are exhibiting art that was painted on professional canvases, with professional paint, by artists from ages 4 to 12.
Ryan is 8 years old, and has created a board game [name of board game??] for his area [neighborhood??/Park Slope??], and is now speaking with a local magazine company to get his board game featured in the centerfold.
The question now is, why are these children passionately taking on these projects, while other kids are at home watching TV? To find the answer, it’s important to look at the demographic that makes up Park Slope.
Predominantly a white collar, family-oriented community, with parents ranging from their mid-30s to mid-40s, you cannot walk one block without passing by some type of unique cafe, restaurant, art shop, or grocery with its own entrepreneurial flavor to it. Slope kids are surrounded by constant innovation and creativity, and they are in the middle of the biggest melting pot in the world.
Many of the families teach their children that it takes more than just good grades to be great in life. One has to be creative, entrepreneurial, a people person, confident, passionate, and has to know how to lead others to make it in New York City. It seems to be a general understanding in the neighborhood that trickles down into the psyche of the offspring.
These are traits children don’t usually learn in schools. Kids have to get lucky by hanging with the right group of friends that share similar high-value traits, as well as having parents that know that the world is changing, and “just” public school doesn’t cut it anymore. Or, in Bernstein-Schalet’s case, having a life coach specifically for growing his confidence and enabling his ideas didn’t hurt either.
The question to me is, what can we learn from the parents of Park Slope? Walking around the neighborhood this past summer, I passed by at least 50 lemonade stands and little stoop sales run by children selling their old toys and trading cards. They get a kick out of making money in interesting ways, because it’s what their parents are doing.
If you or your child is interested in hosting an event in Prospect Park, contact its Special Events office at (718) 965-8944.
Keith Merkowitz is a freelance writer living in New York City. He is a parent of two boys and a girl.
