LEWISTON — John Jenkins, who served as mayor of both Auburn and Lewiston, now wants to be a school founder.

The motivational speaker wants to create the John Jenkins Leadership Academy, an online school-within-local-schools that would prepare students for the real world with practical training in business.

“We’re trying to enhance what’s already out there,” Jenkins said Friday. After years of talking with kids across Maine and the region, he said he wants to create a venue to help them more. “It’s time.”

He has submitted a proposal to the Maine Charter School Commission, one of nine that were announced this week.

Other proposals include a school of art and science at the Fiddlehead Center for the Arts in Gray, the Baxter Academy of Technology and Science in Portland and the Rural Aspirations Project in the town of Monroe, east of Waterville.

None of the concepts are guaranteed to become reality.

The one- or two-page proposals will be followed by exhaustive state-mandated applications. They ask everything from what kind of school lunch would be served to which classes will be taught and how much the teachers will make. Intricate cash-flow estimates also are required.

Jenkins said he is working on those details. Tentative plans call for him to operate out of existing schools. He has crafted a computer slide show that presents the broad goals. He’s begun showing it to leaders in several Maine school departments.

“The next step is doing what we’re doing now, which is basically putting pen to paper and making sure the curriculum is as detailed as it can possibly be because it is in two different formats,” Jenkins said.

His plan is to mix live classroom instruction with online teaching. The Internet instruction will help him reach more kids and give students flexible learning hours.

Jenkins has ideas for what he wants online, but he doesn’t yet have a staff nor does he know from where he’ll operate.

“When it gets to the online stuff, I’m functional, but that’s not my expertise,” he said.

He has been working with several education experts to devise a plan that will incorporate “rigorous, disciplined academics” and allow teens to follow their interests and learn at their own paces.

“It’s ideal for people who learn differently,” he said. He imagines students graduating with diplomas as well as the ability to go to work in a bank, a real estate office or an insurance firm.

“Our students will learn to think on their feet,” he said. “But more importantly, they will walk out with a working knowledge and credentials. We’re going to give you four or five career options that you will have in your back pocket, ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

In some ways, the notion follows Jenkins’ own path.

The New Jersey native came to Maine in the early 1970s. He studied psychology at Bates College. He became a four-time world champion in karate and ran a karate school in Lewiston. He has also sold real estate and served in the Maine Senate. He currently sells insurance and runs Peptalk motivational speaking, where he regularly talks to kids.

He tells many that the best job they will ever have is likely one they create for themselves.

“They may open up a mechanics shop,” he said. “Who cares what they do for work? But they will be in control of their lives and their livelihood.”

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