Submitted On: June 2, 2008, 10:31AM

Teens Virtually In Business

Sick Bros Clothing is finally in the black.

After a year of putting together business plans, developing designs, and working on a website and store, the aspiring youth apparel company held its grand opening Thursday at Marina High School. The event featured a ribbon cutting by Councilwoman Jill Hardy and lines stretching out the door, full of students ready to write checks.

If the company were real, its investors would be sitting pretty.

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Submitted On: April 30, 2008, 11:45AM

Virtual Enterprise Program Showcased - Kauai Garden Island News

Students learn better when they're interested in a topic. And is there anything more interesting than creating and running one's own business? That's exactly what a group of enthusiastic seniors from Kapa'a High School are doing in Christine Farina's economics class.

Through Virtual Enterprise, an online program which includes 187 schools from California, Arizona, Oregon and Hawai'i, these students have created "Easy Living," a virtual, organic clothing company.

"Easy Living" is the first business in the Virtual Enterprise program from the state of Hawai'i. The program gives students experience in economic, business and personal financial skills, while also giving students hands-on experience in operating a business. While the company itself is not "real." its message is valid.

"Easy Living" uses only organic fabrics and dyes or recycled materials to make all their products - everything from shirts to skirts to bikinis. Not only do the students sell products that have very little negative impact on the health of the planet, but the products are also produced in safe and environmentally friendly factories.

If interested in seeing what these students are doing, join them at 7 p.m., May 13 in Kapa'a High School's library for an open house.

Students, business partners and service organizations are welcome.

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Submitted On: April 3, 2008, 10:31AM

A Virtual World with Real Results

A visit to the Baskets & Bouquets firm begins with a stop at the reception desk where guests are signed in and then announced to the CEO. The space looks like a typical office, with a dozen or so professionally dressed employees working in their cubicles. In the sales and marketing department, an employee is designing a new logo for the firm; an employee in the human resources department is planning a conflict resolution workshop; members of the accounting department, meanwhile, are working on the firm's business plan, preparing for an upcoming presentation to potential investors. This firm may seem like a typical business, except that it is located within a New York City (NYC) public high school and is run by 17- and 18-year-old students. It is part of the Virtual Enterprise (VE) network. While the firm's products and revenues are virtual, the work is real.

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Submitted On: April 3, 2008, 10:24AM

Virtual Learning is the Real Thing

Learning about the business world has become about as real as it can in California high schools. Enrollment in the programs earns college preparatory credit in economics, but more importantly, the students are given the unique opportunity of learning from outside of a textbook. There are no textbooks in the virtual enterprise (VE) programs. The classrooms don't have the average-looking furniture; the furniture generally consists of cubicles, office desks, computers, fax machines and telephones. The teacher is called the coordinator, and the daily instruction is conducted with direct input from appointed company officers.

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Submitted On: March 13, 2008, 2:29PM

Teens With Vision

At the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce ambassador’s meeting on Tuesday, February 26, five students from East Bakersfield High presented to the ambassador’s the virtual business they created from scratch. Students Eddie Morrow, Jacob Aguilar, Steven Salazar, Giovanna Gomez, and Taurest Dillard are participants in the Virtual Enterprise program, an extracurricular activity which gives student an early opportunity to learn the salient points of owning and operating a company in today’s business world.

After Chamber Project Manager Pauline Bartlett had all ambassadors present introduce themselves, by way of giving their hometowns and favorite foods, the young entrepreneurs gave a powerpoint presentation detailing every last intricacy of the simulated business they created. Local business ambassadors watched as the directors of Sky Blue Travel, the students’ simulated business, explained the company’s start up costs and projected profits.

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Submitted On: December 3, 2007, 9:22AM

Virtual Enterprise Students Earn State Recognition

High school students throughout Solano County have been learning what it takes to develop and run a successful business. Their hard work and dedication has been recognized by the California Department of Education (CDE) as a Model Program.

A recognition evet was held at the Solano County Office of Education (SCOE) on Monday, October 29, 2007. Representatives from CDE, SCOE, local business partners and school districts were on hand to celebrate the achievements of students, teachers and administrators from each school. Students from Dixon High School, Will C. Wood High School, Vanden High School and Benicia High School made special presentations about their virtual businesses.

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Vista Students Learning in a Simulated Business Environment

Students enrolled in ROP classes at Vista Nueva Career & Technology High School are getting a new view of the business world.

"Alicia Caddell, who is new to the district, arrived enthusiastically prepared with an entire resume full of ideas to help the students of Vista Nueva identify and claim as their own a subject they could be successful in," says site administrator Rachel Thoene. "She is quite a find for us and has a tremendous heart for our students."

Caddell has introduced Vista students to a statewide program sponsored through ROP called Virtual Enterprise. Students conceive of and then develop their own business enterprise via a computer simulated model. They are then responsible for developing a comprehensive marketing plan, ad campaign, product catalogue, human resources employee manual and a company newsletter.

Caddell's students are already hard at work and have decided to develop a clothing line for men and women called, "DISCO.Dipped in Sauce Company."

As students develop their line of clothing, they will also do a photo shoot for their products, develop their own resumes to interview for positions within the company and compete for top management and sales positions within the company. Students will also manage their own virtual finances.

"The whole idea is that the students learn to apply comprehensive business principles from conception to realization of product and income in a safe and risk-free environment," says Caddell. "Our students will be traveling to Bakersfield, Calif., on Nov. 28 and 29 to compete against 3,000 other high school students from throughout the state in categories for Best Marketing Plan, Job Interview Skills, Best Catalogue, Best News Letter, Apprenticeship, Salesmanship/Customer Service and Best Human Resources Employee Manual.

"I just love these students and their potential and their creativity. I'm just amazed by them. Every day, I learn from them about how hard they work for something when they really want it and I appreciate their efforts."

To further enhance the leadership training offered to students, Caddell will take eight of her top female students to the Professional Business Women's Conference this month in Sacramento.

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