Last year I posted about a pilot entrepreneurship program that a friend (and fellow entrepreneur) and I taught at a local high school. Somewhat astonished by the fact that 24 high school kids agreed to come to school 45 minutes early for the entire year, I asked the students a simple question: Why?

The answer was clear: “Because it was taught by real-world entrepreneurs.”

Entrepreneurship has become an essential aspect of education that we can no longer afford to overlook. Small businesses are now responsible for the vast majority of new job creation and economic growth. Entrepreneurs are now driving (what’s left of) our economy, yet we’re still teaching our kids to go to school, study hard and get a good job.

Who is going to create those jobs?

A recent Gallup Poll commissioned by The Kauffman Foundation shows that 69% of high school students want to start a small business, yet 84% of those surveyed report that they have no preparation to do so.

Bill Gates put it differently: “Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50 year-old mainframe… It’s the wrong tool for the times.”

Entrepreneurship is more than business plans and balance sheets. It’s a mindset that exposes opportunity, ignites ambition and fosters critical thinking, financial literacy, global awareness and other essential 21st century skills. It’s a mindset that can empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things. It’s a mindset that every student needs.

Entrepreneurship is also a mindset that is difficult to convey (and easy to kill) in a traditional textbook/classroom environment.

Based on that experience and our partnership with The Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, my colleagues and I have come up with a scalable solution.

We’ve established a non-profit organization and are now in the process of creating an interactive entrepreneurship education program that utilizes multi-media online and distance learning technology to enable students and their teachers to interact with, and learn from, real-world entrepreneurs.

The teacher-led program is based on the collective knowledge and experience drawn from a diverse array of real-world entrepreneurs. The curriculum is designed to immerse students in project based learning that will expose them to the fundamental concepts of entrepreneurship and help them develop the skills that will enable them to recognize opportunities, manage risks and learn from their results.

In addition to the interactive multi-media content, we’re also establishing a rapidly growing network of entrepreneurs, angel investors and small business owners who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with students within their communities.

Our concept is a collaboration of educators and entrepreneurs, business and community leaders, working together to redefine the American high school experience, to create dynamic learning environments so that all students are prepared for success in today’s world.

The bottom line is that we need your help. Please forward this post to anyone you think may be interested in helping raise money, recruiting talent or piloting our program. The potential impact - for our students, our communities and our nation as a whole - is profound.