THS students take gold and bronze
THS students take gold and bronze
By: Carin Enovijas
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 1009 times
0 responses 0 comments Tehachapi High School seniors Brendan Lile and Sara Morris received a special commendation during Tuesday’s school board meeting for capturing the gold and bronze award in a mock competition of “The Apprentice.”
The award-winning business savvy of these two students comes as no surprise to their business consultant, Chris Hood, THS business and economics teacher. As participants in the Virtual Enterprise (VE) program, Lile and Morris have spent the school year working together to create, and market a “virtual business.”
According to Hood, the VE program is host to more than 250 participating schools across the US, with more than 3,000 participants worldwide. With corporate sponsors like Merrill Lynch and other financially astute companies, VE offers participants a chance to compete for more than $25,000 a year in college scholarships.
The competition was sponsored by Kern County Schools Credit Union, which separated the competitors into teams compiled from surrounding area schools. The teams were were challenged to create an advertising and marketing campaign consisting of a website, print ad, logo and a sales pitch over a four hour interval.
Playing the role of “The Donald,” KSFCU Director of Operations, Michael George, delivered the memorable catch-phrase, “You’re Hired!” to young “Apprentices” Lile and Morris. “It’s amazing what these students can do in four hours,” George said, adding that it’s his belief that most real executives could not accomplish the same results under the same conditions.
“Virtual Enterprise truly prepares students for the business world,” George said. “It’s a microcosm of what we do here at the credit union.”
George has been a participant with the KSFCU Apprentice program since August of 1999.
Currently, the VE program is offered as an economics core credit course where participants setup and manage their own virtual business, learning “hands on” lessons about the real world of business, as well as personal expenses such as rent, phone bills, car insurance, utilities and even food, Hood said.
The THS class chose to setup a retail music business named Inner City Music.
Through an online real estate transaction, the team decided on a high traffic location “right near the beach” in downtown San Luis Obispo. The two young executives, Morris and Lile, said they chose the bustling college town based on the area’s upscale economy. They were also able to win a virtual contract from Cal Poly to use their logo on the ICM website, to appeal to the large market of student consumers.
After learning what they call valuable lessons in “real world” economics, these two future entrepreneurs plan to attend college close to home, where they consider Tehachapi’s hometown economy more welcoming.
“Living in Tehachapi isn’t like living in upscale San Luis Obispo,” defends Lile when asked about the financial prospects for young people hoping to venture out on their own. Lile credits the local economy for offering young people job opportunities and reasonable rents.
Lile will attend Antelope Valley College and Morris will attend Bakersfield College, where both will declare business related majors next fall. Both students currently hold local jobs and contribute to the local area economy. When asked about her time-management skills, Morris who currently holds two jobs says “I’m never home — ever,” with the one exception being time spent for, you guessed it: “homework.”
Sara credits her VE experience for “Sparking her interest in business,” as well as teaching her some useful and necessary life skills.
“I learned so much about managing money,” Morris said. “Before, I didn’t know how much [it takes] for social security or insurance.
Morris earned an estimated virtual salary of $32-35 thousand a month for her position as public relations and marketing manager with Inner City Music.
Just like the more experienced segment of our working class, Morris also cites the ever-rising “price of gas,” as an incentive to work harder.
As executive vice president of marketing and sales, Lile earned $4,200 a month.
“To be a VP…I’ve never been in a situation like that,” says Lile. Then the high school senior added with a tangible enthusiasm, “Everything was real. To help [business partners] make a web page, to outdo the competition, that’s what I want to do.”
Working with their business consultant on a daily basis, the individual team members do their jobs, utilizing the internet and networking skills to help build revenues for the company.
Inner City Music held on-campus fundraisers, including an X-Box tournament and a DataMatch questionnaire that matched students with common interests and personalities.
VE trade fair are held across the state and the country, where other virtual companies set up booths to sell their products and network with others.
“The trade fairs are where it totally came together,” says Morris, who estimated revenues from two trade fairs held at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield and at Reedley College, at “more than $100 thousand.”
ICM CEO and classmate Mandy Craig agrees that the trade fairs enabled the students to adopt a more outwardly professional appearance and demeanor.
The result was not only visible in the company’s revenues, but served as a bonding experience that gave the socially diverse class more of a focal point to help them work as a team.
“The hardest thing is having everyone work together,” says Craig. Craig, a virtual CEO who also takes pilot lessons, because “it’s just something I always wanted to do,” praised Lile and Morris’ “Apprentice” success.
“We were all very proud of them,” Craig said.
Hood, who took over the class last October, is clearly proud of the achievements of this ambitious group of students. When asked if there are any future Donald Trumps in the class Hood said there are a couple “who just might be.”
“Some are more quietly competitive,” he said. “While others tend to gain their focus outside the classroom.”
Either way, Hood praises the quality work these VE students have individually and collaboratively accomplished.
The class began last fall with approximately 26 students and approximately 16 students remain. According to Hood, seven out of 10 participating seniors plan to attend college next fall.
To receive more information about Virtual Enterprise, call Chris Hood at THS at 822-3120 or visit www.VirtualEnterprise.org.
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