By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

John Watson, 16, chef for the student-run company, JBAKERZ, prepares pancakes for hungry students at Entrepreneurship High School in Winton Place. (Gary Landers/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

WINTON PLACE - Making pancakes can be fun, but turning it into a class lesson is a bit of a stretch.

Or is it?

Not at Cincinnati Public Schools' Entrepreneur High School, where students have started businesses selling pancakes, cobblers, cheesecakes and others sweets.

On a recent Thursday, the smell of blueberry pancakes and sizzling sausages wafted through the halls of the Winton Place school.

John Watson, 16, wearing a white chef's hat, stood by a griddle cooking up dozens of the breakfast favorites with his business partner, Joe Gagnon, 16.

A blackboard off to the side broadcast the prices. Fifty cents for a plain pancake. Blueberries or chocolate chips tacked on, extra quarter. Sausage links, 30 cents.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Entrepreneur High School in Cincinnati Public Schools, Winton Place. Principal John Morris. Subjects College preparatory curriculum and business courses. Why the courses work "It's all based around personal success regardless of individual obstacles. We don't tell (students) how to be successful. We allow them to harvest what their individual interests are and create their own path to success." - John Morris Student quote The school "helps us learn some of the qualities and basic things to know if you want to start a business - training, time management and how to be responsible." - Christina Harris, 16, who wants to start an interior design business.

Dozens of students, waiting to buy some of Watson and Gagnon's specialties, crowded the cooking area before the bell rang.

But this is no bake sale.

Watson is one of the winners of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the New York-based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Watson started a business, JBakerz, as part of the curriculum at the entrepreneur school. In addition to the traditional college preparatory track, students learn about finance and business.

He and a former business competitor from school, Denise Carter, both won the national award after they teamed up to create a holding company called J.L. Sweets. Carter sells cobblers and other goodies.

"They really saw an opportunity that they could both be successful by working together," said Principal John Morris, who was a business owner before taking the top spot at the Cincinnati school.

The award competition wasn't easy.

The students had to create a business plan, submit financial statements, detail the history of their business, describe operations and make financial projections.

"It taught us to cooperate," Watson said.

Their work paid off with a national award, and all-expenses paid trip to New York in April and $750 in cash for each.

Watson and Carter are back to running their own businesses, and Watson said he plans to invest half of his award money toward expanding his business. He's considering buying a refrigerator to store his cheesecakes.

"I've got a lot of cheesecake orders and I'm planning on making them en masse," Watson said.

Watson and Carter run just two of the many businesses cultivated at the Entrepreneur High School. Other students sell comic books and T-shirts. One repairs electronic equipment.

Another wants to run a gym that has an attached hair and nail salon.

The school started two years ago as part of Cincinnati Public School District's plan to create smaller, program-oriented high schools. The first year, students received briefcases, calculators, organizers and business cards. Once they are juniors and seniors, students are encouraged to participate in internships with local companies or start their own businesses.

Beginning with just ninth-graders last year, the school now enrolls 150 freshmen and sophomores. Morris said it will grow as the school adds grades. There are 330 students enrolled for next year.

Watson said the school is perfect for him and his business-oriented spirit.

"It has offered me courses in entrepreneurship and, of course, a chance to start my business in school," he said. "I look as it as an incubator for business. I've learned stuff for college that I probably wouldn't have learned until my senior year."

And he's making money toward his tuition, too.

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com