Mentoring + Business = Alpha Academy
One of our priorities is to pay our own way. Instead of fostering a welfare mentality among our students, we want to show them that we must work for what we have, and that there is no such thing as a free lunch. We have been blessed with a ranch that is capable of meeting our operating budget, and we want our students to see that we are effectively utilizing the resources God has given us.
Many Alpha Academy students LOVE working with the dogs!
In addition to meeting our operating budget, our business centers provide a real-world environment in which our students can learn planning, budgeting, follow-through, attention to detail, work ethic, and many other life lessons. Rather than limit learning to the classroom, we take advantage of the powerful lessons built into to our business centers.
Another benefit of our business centers is that they provide our students exposure to many different areas. Some of our students are from the city, and have never driven a tractor or set up an irrigation system. Others have been around agriculture all their lives, but have never done a computer design project or remodeled a house. Through these projects our students are able to explore areas they’ve never tried, and discover interests and talents they did not know they had.
Below are the business centers we currently operate:
Thousand Hills Pet Resort provides premium doggie daycare and boarding for your beloved pet! We are able to accommodate dogs of all sizes and ages in our large daycare and overnight boarding facilities. This project ties in perfectly with the mentoring program, in that our students are able to care for the animals, as well as learn the marketing and business skills required to make an operation successful. Additionally, our students receive the therapeutic benefits that come with spending time with animals.
webcarsandtrucks.com is a great opportunity for our students to practice decision-making, and to learn entrepreneurial skills in a real-world situation. We have a vehicle dealer’s license, and are able to help locate and purchase cars for people. Our students are involved in research, detailing, and graphic design/advertising. All the proceeds go to support Alpha Academy, and our customers save thousands of dollars – truly a win/win situation!
MissionCars.com is designed to help churches, ministries and other community service organizations process and benefit from car donations. We handle all the details of receiving, advertising, selling, and doing the paperwork for the car, and when the transaction is complete we split the net proceeds with the referring organization. This frees them up from the headaches associated with donated vehicles, while still helping them financially.
Our students are able to learn basic car maintenance, advertising, marketing and communication skills, while gaining firsthand knowledge of small business.
