Dickinson County CEO program tells Committee on Education it teaches students real-world business skills

The Committee on Education heard a presentation from Dickinson County’s Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) program on October 27, 2025, when Brandy Gray, facilitator of the Dickinson County CEO program, described a yearlong, hands-on entrepreneurship course for juniors and seniors that meets from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and awards two high school credits.

Gray told committee members the program brings students to different host businesses in Dickinson County instead of keeping them in a traditional classroom. “We get hosted at different businesses throughout Dickinson County, and, we have different style days where we have workdays at those host sites,” Gray said.

The program, Gray said, asks students to form one class business to raise seed money for individual projects, to develop individual business plans and financial statements during the second semester, and to present at a trade show. “By the end of this year, I’m gonna have my own individual business,” said Abigail Gaston, a student in the program, describing the course’s emphasis on creating a tangible product or service rather than a paper grade.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed on logistics and equity. Representatives asked whether the early start time interferes with home-school travel and whether the program is accessible to students in different school schedules. Gray said the program is coordinated with member high schools so students typically return in time for regular class periods, and that transportation is the family’s responsibility though community funds are available when travel costs would prevent participation.

Program structure and history

Gray traced the CEO idea to a mid-2000s origin: she…