Instilling a Business Sense
LIU Business and Leadership Conference Instills Business Sense in Sayville VEI Students
On October 19, students in Mr. Cross’ Virtual Enterprise* International classes joined over 1,500 students representing sixty high schools at the Business and Leadership Conference hosted by Long Island University. In this trade-show atmosphere that fosters business acumen, the Sayville High School Students participated in the elevator pitch competition (see video) and attended workshops on topics such as “Marketing Your Business,” “Leadership,” “Accounting,” and “Human Resources.”
This year, Sayville had two new startup firms showcasing their “virtual businesses”: 1 Click Tickets, represented by CEO Bettina Bonfiglio, which sells music concert and sporting-event tickets, and Altitude Extreme Sports, represented by CEO Joseph Lopresti, which sells skateboards, snowboards, surfboards, and other related equipment, gear, and clothing gave their “elevator pitches.”
“VEI transforms students into business professionals by bringing the workplace into the classroom,” explained Sayville teacher and VEI facilitator Chad Cross who was pleased with his students’ performance at the LIU conference and he looks forward to future competitions with these industrious Sayville students.
*Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) is an in-school entrepreneurship program modeled on the European tradition of apprenticeships. The program targets high school and college students. With an emphasis on college and career readiness, VEI offers students a competitive edge through project-based collaborative learning, and the development of 21st-century skills in entrepreneurship, global business, economics, problem solving, communication, personal finance, and technology. Each year, VEI works with schools to transform 500 classrooms into offices and 10,000 students into business executives.
