|
Ian Redmond stepped out of his role as a sophomore in high school and took the helm of his newly formed company “iGo.” Ian and his diverse team of classmates assumed titles, roles and responsibilities within the simulated the business environment and created an award winning backpack manufacturing company. “This is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had – being able to work with a bunch of people I didn’t know and actually doing a great job. We didn’t know each other but we able to come together and do something great” said Ian as he reflected on the last quarterly financial statement in his hand.
One of nine community business leaders that invested in the idea of competitive enterprise education was Senior Process Engineer, Doug Hanaway from Tech Tool & Mold, Inc. located in Meadville, Pennsylvania. “It was a very long, but rewarding week,” said Hanaway. “It was amazing to see the dynamic range of skills that the students, even as tenth graders, possess. The student’s came up with some amazing ideas on products and how to manufacture and market them at a profit. They were placed into groups with individuals that they may not typically know. The students then had to set goals for their company and determine how they could best contribute to the team effort.”
Pennsylvania Business Week is the first in-school program of its kind in the United States. The program was developed by the Manufacturer’s Association of Northwest Pennsylvania in conjunction with Fort LeBoeuf High School in 1997. The PBW is a week-long program designed for high school students, usually sophomores, who are divided into management teams that run their own companies. The students run the companies through a computer simulation for 12 business quarters, making all managerial decisions including pricing, marketing, production, research & development, and human resources. Each team of students is assigned a school and a community business advisor that guides them in their business decisions.
The week of business education culminated in the students making business presentations to a panel of judges in five competitive areas: Advertising, Stockholders, Trade Show, Return on Net Assets and Top Company. Although winners were chosen in each of these categories, the real winners were the students and adults alike. “All of us found this to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience,” stated Hanaway.
The students were faced with a very tight lead-time in which they were required to organize a team structure, conceive and design a new product, develop financial accountability based on profitability, marketability, and sales performance. By the end of the week, competition areas were rocking as team spirit filled the rooms. When Ian Redmond’s company “iGo” was declared Top Company in the competition, each member of the team received a crisp $100 bill and the place went wild.
ACES is a non-profit, educational organization that promotes the understanding of free market economics to students, teachers and the general public through partnerships between the business and education communities. PBW at Maplewood High School, Guys Mills, Pennsylvania involved over 125 high school sophomores, nine community business advisors, and nine teachers who all donated an entire week (October 30th-through November 3rd, 2006) to the cause of free enterprise learning.
Learn more about this program at www.aceserie.org
|
