Students to pay own way to China in August
BROOKLYN, NY — Santa Monica High School students showed over Memorial Day weekend that they have what it takes to give entrepreneurs like Donald Trump a run for their money as they were crowned national champions in a competition that tested the business acumen of close to 100 teenagers.
As champions, members of Samohi’s Project Echo, a year-long course that teaches students how to run their own businesses, will represent the United States in the international competition to be held in Shanghai, China, Aug. 2-3. There, Project Echo students will compete against teams from nine other countries, including China, the Philippines, Ghana, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine.
“This is pretty much unbelievable. People are hugging each other, crying. I can’t believe we won,”Chris Peterson, a senior at Samohi and Project Echo member, said via cell phone from Brooklyn just moments after learning of his team’s victory.“I mean, we were up against the best of the best, and we just came out on top.”
Project Echo students run a cafe at Samohi, as well as the school’s student store, turning a profit on each, with money earned going toward college scholarships.Teri Jones,a Project Echo instructor, said the student-run cafe is expected to gross more than $125,000 this year.
SAGE, which stands for Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship, is an international network that links high school students to nearby university students, business leaders and civic leaders. The mission of SAGE is to advance entrepreneurship education and community service-learning across the world, emphasizing ethical business practices, social responsibility, civic engagement and environmental awareness.
In the competition, members of SAGE judge high school teams on entrepreneurship, community outreach, civic engagement, environmental responsibility, use of college mentors and use of a business advisory board. Following a presentation, judges ask questions of the student presenters.
Coming in second behind Samohi’s Project Echo squad was a team from Gem State Academy, a private school in Idaho founded by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, Calif., placed third, and coming in fourth was defending national SAGE champion Northwestern Lehigh High School in New Tripoli, Pa., according to results from SAGE coordinator Allison Smith.
The national SAGE competition took place May 26 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge and Kingsborough Community College.
GotVMail Communications, a SAGE sponsor, presented Samohi’s team with a $1,000 check to pay for travel expenses. SAGE provides hotel and food for the days of the competition, said Curtis DeBerg, a California State University-Chico business professor who founded SAGE.
“All country champions fund their own airfare and visa costs to participate in the SAGE World Cup,” DeBerg said. “This may sound like a lot to ask, but for a SAGE program to really work in a country or state, it absolutely needs local buy-in from leaders in the business and civic communities, just like interscholastic sports. However, we help them in their fundraising efforts.”
Project Echo students admit raising enough money will be a challenge, but probably the biggest obstacle will be setting enough time aside to prepare for the international competition, with high school graduation just weeks away.
“This is really going to test how well we can focus,” Samohi senior Carlton Fortenberry said. “We’ve been overwhelmed with school work and just having a social life. Now with graduation, we’ll have more distractions that we’ll need to push through. Most of us don’t even have our passports yet.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 31, 2006. Read the original PDF.