Newport News Excellent Educator allows students to create a business plan
Newport News, Va. (WAVY) — WAVY-TV 10 is celebrating excellent educators all month long!
In Newport News, Tanesha Koonce works to prepare her middle schoolers for life long after grade school.
'Ms. Koonce knew at a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. She takes an active role in cultivating student leadership. During her career, she has worked tirelessly to connect students with entrepreneurship opportunities,' according to school leaders.
Mrs. Koonce is the family and consumer sciences teacher at Booker T. Washington Middle School.
'We're preparing them for careers and preparing them to be good contributors to society,' said Koonce.
For the past 22 years, Mrs. Koonce has made learning fun by creating classes to review nutrition while cooking, or methods to pay off student loan debt.
'It gives them life skills, and they see the bigger picture. We get them the bigger picture thinking, critical skills and things that are essential for them in their life, along with their education,' said Koonce.
The eighth-grade class created business plans.
'They got to choose what type of food truck they wanted to open. We had Caribbean, dessert and Mexican food. They pretty much demo the recipes, like the Food Truck challenge. I just wanted to give them another perspective on if you didn't go to college, you could be an entrepreneur or in entrepreneurship, and how much money you could make,' said Koonce. 'For the project, they had to turn in a business plan. They had to create a menu, price their menu out and create a budget for opening the business. They had to research other businesses. It's a complete business plan. If they wanted to, they could take it to the SBA and get a loan!'
It's life lessons like this that earned Koonce the 2024-2025 Newport News Middle School Teacher title.
'It's nice to see students take advantage of the opportunities I offer them,' said Koonce. 'You don't have to learn what's in the curriculum, but if you learn something, I feel like I've done my job perfectly!'
Koonce is also the Athletic Director at the middle school. She works to prepare students to make strategic decisions ahead of high school.
'I talk to them about academic scholarships and keeping up with their grades. I also talk to them about other scholarships, opportunities that are available, not just sports scholarships. I do encourage them to participate in extracurricular activities to be well-rounded students, so if they choose college, if they choose other career fields,' said Koonce.
Many of her students are taking what they learn in the classroom into their future.
'It's awesome to see them excel every day. A few of them have become entrepreneurs. I have had students start businesses, and they say it's a result of my class, so it's nice to see a lot of them say they went to college because of some of the things I expose them to in my class,' said Koonce.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Flex LNG - Finalize $175 million lease financing for Flex Courageous
HAMILTON, Bermuda, June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Flex LNG Ltd. ("Flex LNG" or the "Company") (NYSE: FLNG) (OSE: FLNG) is pleased to announce the signing and successful completion of the $175 million JOLCO lease financing for the vessel Flex Courageous. The refinancing generated net proceeds of approximately $42 million, extends debt maturity to 2035 and will significantly reduce the cost of debt by ~1.5% p.a. The refinancing of Flex Courageous follows the announcement of up to 10 years of additional backlog for the vessel. This JOLCO lease marks the first of three planned vessel refinancings under the Balance Sheet Optimization Program 3.0, introduced in the Q1-2025 presentation after securing up to 37 years of combined contract backlog across the three vessels. The Company remains on track to complete the refinancing of Flex Resolute and Flex Constellation in the second half of 2025. The combined refinancing efforts are expected to release $120 million in net proceeds, while also extending debt maturities and reducing the overall cost of debt. At the end of Q1-2025, Flex LNG held a cash balance of $410 million. The proceeds from this transaction further support the Company's strong liquidity position, financial flexibility at highly attractive terms and supported by the substantial charter backlog. Knut Traaholt, CFO of Flex LNG Management AS, commented: "We are pleased to have completed our first refinancing of 2025 at very attractive terms. We sincerely appreciate the continued trust and support from our banking partners and lease providers. With this transaction completed, we now turn our attention to the planned refinancings of Flex Resolute and Flex Constellation, continuing our efforts to further strengthen Flex LNG's financial platform." For further information, please contact: Mr. Knut Traaholt, Chief Financial Officer of Flex LNG Management AS Telephone: +47 23 11 40 00Email: ir@ About FLEX LNG Flex LNG is a shipping company focused on the growing market for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Our fleet consists of thirteen LNG carriers on the water and all of our vessels are state-of-the-art ships with the latest generation two-stroke propulsion (MEGI and X-DF). These modern ships offer significant improvements in fuel efficiency and thus also carbon footprint compared to the older steam and four-stroke propelled ships. Flex LNG is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as well as Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FLNG. For more information, go to: This information was brought to you by Cision View original content: SOURCE Flex LNG
Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Popular fast-food burger chain closes all restaurants in key area
It's not exactly a golden era for the restaurant industry right now. Consider everything that's happened to most of our favorite dining establishments in the past five or so years. Related: See's Candies local rival unexpectedly closing after 50 years When Covid struck, unsuspecting restaurants across the U.S. were hit with a shock to the system overnight. Suddenly, even the trendiest, most exclusive, and most-frequented restaurants were empty and bare. Foot traffic fell to nearly zero overnight. Customers who'd been grappling for reservations were warded off. Chairs remained stacked on tables for weeks - and in some cases, months. Food perished, staff went un-tipped. Which meant that rent, utility, and other bills piled up. So many restaurants found themselves in the red, with no easy way of fixing it. Even after Covid waned, many customers were still exceedingly hesitant to venture inside and dine among strangers. Restaurants that weathered the pandemic and had ample outdoor seating could adapt by offering al-fresco dining. But that wasn't everyone. Of course, not every restaurant in the U.S. is located centrally in urban hubs or by picturesque waterfronts. These might attract lots of tourists or workers thanks to prime placement, but there are plenty of other restaurants that depend on routine, everyday customers to keep them afloat. More closings: Popular Mexican chain closing all restaurants, no bankruptcyIconic mall chain shuttering more stores foreverMajor gym closing multiple locations after franchisee bankruptcyAfter Chapter 11 bankruptcy, beloved retailer closes all stores Fast-food chains, for instance, are often positioned near highways and heavy traffic hubs to capture commuters and road-weary drivers hoping for a warm meal on the go. They offer little fanfare and are often cheaper compared to more upscale establishments. But as prices continue to rise and customers cut back on their discretionary spending, a weekly fast-food habit might be the first thing to go. This is partly what's been happening with Jack in the Box (JACK) , a popular chicken and burger chain. It has made the difficult decision to shutter all its restaurants based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Jack in the Box also plans to close between 80-120 restaurants across the U.S. in 2025. Related: Popular bankrupt retail chain prepares to close all 96 stores It is currently in the midst of a new "Jack on Track" strategy, which will close down underperforming restaurants, streamline operations, and reduce debt. It's planning to reduce its debt by about $300 million in the next two years and potentially sell its Del Taco business, which it acquired in 2022. Only one Jack in the Box restaurant is slated to open in Kansas City in August 2025. CEO Lance Tucker called the restructuring effort "an overall return to simplicity for the Jack in the Box business model and investor story." The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Miami Herald
16 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Pepsi quietly discontinued popular soda it planned to bring back
Soda companies, love to follow the blueprint created by fast food chains like McDonald's and Burger King. Those companies will occasionally remove something from the menu only to bring it back with more interest at a later date. Sometimes the item was a limited time offer in the first place and, in other cases, it was a menu item that grew a little bit tired. Related: McDonald's brings back unexpected breakfast item after 6 years But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. McDonald's bagel, breakfast sandwiches, were never huge sellers, but when they got removed, there was an outcry. Maybe people only occasionally ordered them, but they liked them and wanted them to be on the menu. Customers may not order an item very often, but they like it being there for the day they feel like eating it. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter McDonald's has played this game with the Mc rib for decades. You would think that a sandwich made out of pork scraps would not be a giant draw, but because it comes in and out of availability on the predictable schedule, it has become a bit of a phenomenon. Consumers get especially upset when they think something is coming back and that ends up not happening. That's the case with a popular Pepsi drink that has been scheduled for a 2025 revival. Image Source: Pepsico Mountain Dew stopped making its Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry flavor last year. It was widely expected to be brought back and the company had even confirmed the return. That's not going to happen: "MTN Dew Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry is no more! While this soda was on Pepsi's internal release calendar for 2025 at the beginning of the year, multiple sources have now reported the return has been canceled," the SodaSeekers Instagram page shared. More Food: Applebee's brings back all-you-can-eat deal to take down Chili'sPopular Mexican chain reveals surprising growth plansStarbucks CEO shares plan for a whole new menu Some fans were upset at the change. "This is so devastating because we were really looking forward to finally getting it as a Zero Sugar version. The upcoming Trolli flavor seems close enough though, so maybe they'll bring Citrus Cherry back another time," @mnmtwinz wrote. @mamcinch was disappointed as well. "This is the worst news! Cherry Citrus Game Fuel is literally the best flavor," they posted. Others just seemed surprised. "So strange considering it seems to sell really well too," added @nolanvoid_13. PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Ramon Luis Laguarta did no speak about Game Fuel: Citrus Cherry, but he did comment on another Mountain Dew franchise in response to a question during his company's fourth-quarter earnings call. "Baja Blast is a big part of our strategy to make Mountain Dew a bigger contributor to our growth in beverages. It's a large franchise. It's almost $1 billion already between our away from home and our retail business in the neighborhood of $1 billion," he shared. Laguarta has big plans and expectations for Mountain Dew. "We see it is incremental in driving penetration from Mountain Dew with new - especially with Gen Zs and especially in parts of the country where our core Mountain Dew is less developed. So we see a very good incrementality for us, and we will continue to invest in Baja Blast is one of our bets for the year," the CEO explained. Related: Pepsi makes major change that will anger some customers He also expects PepsiCo to invest heavily in this specific Mountain Dew segment. "It's continuing the development of Baja Blast. We'll have it for Super Bowl, and there's a whole program throughout the year to continue to develop this platform," he added. "I think it's sustainable. It's incremental. It brings new consumers into the franchise. So that's regarding Baja Blast." The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
