Get Connected to Portland, Maine

How to Feed Two Birds with One Seed

I am a 13-year-old homeschooler named Alexis Bellas. My mom owns 19 Oaks, a small business in Portland that provides marketing & sales to local companies. My mom also homeschools me and likes to “feed two birds with one seed” whenever she can. One day, when she had me in the office and was trying to come up with a summer project for her intern, Steve Doman, she decided that I should do a project with him. This way we were learning together.

We Are All Connected

Steve and I decided to make a video that had interviews with local business owners to find out what they thought about Portland. Their thoughts were all very interesting, and not only were they connected to what they do as a company, they were connected to what other local companies do as well. Steve and I figured out that we— students, business owners, customers, and visitors—are all connected. We wanted to come up with a way to that show that visually. (That is where the red string comes in. You will see it throughout the video, but I don’t want to spoil too much for you!)        

Maine Needs Junior Achievement

Later that year, my mom’s company started doing the marketing for a nonprofit called Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement has been operating in Maine for 50 years. Their programs and volunteers help to get kids ready for a competitive job market and make sure that employers of Maine have more competent people in the work place.

Since I am homeschooled, I get lots of opportunities to visit my mom’s office and take part in apprenticeships with all kinds of people. Unfortunately, not every kid has that exposure to the business world. My mom says that employers of Maine need young workers who have an entrepreneurial spirit and fresh way of solving problems. That’s why we need Junior Achievement.

Now 19 Oaks is sharing the video that Steve and I created to help promote Junior Achievement.

Check out the cool video we made! Enjoy!