|
 The students were wrapping up a year’s worth of work
utilizing the knowledge they have gained in the program by creating
and managing a small business of their own.
Each year students are selected from schools throughout the county
to participate in the program. Each one is then required to attend
CEO classes in addition to their normal classroom schedule. Classes
are typically held in the morning before the regular school day
begins. Students are responsible for getting themselves to class and
participating in all the activities associated with the program,
without interruption to their normal high school education.
Classes are held in a variety of locations throughout the year and
students have the opportunity to learn from local business leaders.
With first hand testimonials of how each experienced entrepreneur
has achieved success, students end up with a best practices
portfolio that they can examine and utilize in creating their own
businesses.
In addition to the tradeshow, students also participate in
fundraisers for the CEO throughout the school year. The money earned
at the fundraisers goes into the program to assist in paying the
overall costs of the students businesses and the tradeshow.
This year the businesses that the students visited included State
Bank of Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, Central Illinois
Ag, Flossie & Delzena’s, ME Realty, Integrity Data, Lincoln College,
By Design Landscape, Guzzardo’s Italian Villa, Heritage Packaging,
Shew Construction, Graue Inc., Eaton Corporation, Lincoln Heritage
Museum at Lincoln College, the Academic Development Institute,
Meador Investigations, Lularoe with Jennifer Keith, Roni B
Photography, Blades Hair and Nail Salon, Mama’s Arcade, Small Town
Creations, Small Town Social, and Midland Institute/Firefly Grill.
The classroom speakers who shared their knowledge and experience
with the students this year included Deron Powell – State Farm
Insurance, Clyde Reynolds – Keystone Financial, Christine Short –
Edward Jones, Todd Mourning – Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital,
Angie Whiteman – Community Health Collaborative CATCH program, Tracy
Bergin – New Herald News, Michelle Bauer – Country Financial, Amy
Tarr – Midland Institute, Arianna Spencer, Hunter Langley and Emma
Schoth – Alumni Chat, Michael Turner – State Bank of Lincoln, James
Adams – Certified Financial Planner, Aric Hopp – Millikin
University, Andy Fitzpatrick – Abbott & Associates, Jason O’Brien –
ABC Wealth Management, Kristi Powell – Heartland Community College,
Sami Paulus & Sarah Faith - CEO Trade committee, Karis Horton – CEO
Alumni and Lincoln Christian University student and Lynn Paulus –
Hotel Ventures Management of Illinois.
This year the large fundraiser for the CEO students was their Murder
Mystery Gala. The fundraiser was organized as a business for the
entire class. Austin Garriott was the student leader or Class
Business CEO. In the booklet published for the tradeshow Garriott
noted about the Murder Mystery, “It was a successful event. With
business, there are always bumps along the road, but with teamwork,
we were able to overcome those obstacles and put on a great event
for the community.”
In an interview with LDN reporter Angela Reiners after the
fundraiser, the students talked about their experience.
When asked about all the
work that went into preparing for the Murder Mystery Dinner and what
they enjoyed about it, students had various responses.
Molly Schempp said the best part was all the students’ planning was
ahead of time so they could enjoy the dinner along with the
audience.
A theater group performed the murder
mystery that evening, and students said even they did not know who
the murderer was until the end.
[to top of second column] |
Austin Garriott says the evening went well,
though there were a few bumps leading up to it. He was glad to see many people
dressed in the 1920s theme for the evening and he said it was a lot of fun.
Other students enjoyed seeing all the
participation and said they got good reviews on the food and how well the
mystery dinner actors did.
From this experience of working together on a big business, the students say
they have learned not to procrastinate on last minute details they had to
squeeze out. Until the week before, the students thought everything was ready.
All agreed that they got everything done, but it was stressful.
On Wednesday evening each of the thirteen students had a booth where they were
set up and prepared to talk about their business. Businesses varied with
students offering products, services, or a combination of both. Some were
selling merchandise on site. Booths included signage and business cards for each
student. At each booth there was also an opportunity to win a drawing at the
individual table, plus guests were given a larger card to carry from site to
site. Students initialed those cards which were then turned in at the end of the
tour for another drawing.
[Nila Smith]
 |
