The Entrepreneurship 30 class at the Weyburn Comprensive will have three Junior Achievement student companies this year, which all held board meetings last week with their company mentors to start off their campaign.
Under the direction of teacher Margot Arnold, the companies include Ace High, Sweet Dreams and Homegrown. Each company has selected a charity that they will donate 10 per cent of their profits to at the end of the semester.
Homegrown is a retail company that sells handmade terrariums, which are a living eco system contained inside an enclosed environment. The members of Homegrown look very positively towards their upcoming sales and have high hopes of providing people with a little bit of green in their everyday lives.
鈥淲e believed this idea would be a good seller because there isn鈥檛 another company locally that sells this particular item. We sell two different sizes to help suit people鈥檚 wants, and we also sell terrariums with a variety of plants and moss and decorations,鈥� said Kaylen McFadden-Carver, vice president of sales and marketing.
鈥淥ur product is an ecosystem within itself, so being organic is very important to our company,鈥� added Cody Vilcu, president of Homegrown.
The company decided to select the Family Place as their charity of choice.
Ace High is a company interested in selling advertising on playing cards to local businesses, with a total of 54 cards in the deck, including the jokers. Businesses will have the option to buy ad space on one card or on all four of a face or number (such as a king in all four suites).
鈥淥nce we get all the cards with ads, we鈥檒l be selling the decks of cards,鈥� said president Cody Schlosser.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way to help local companies get their name out there,鈥� he added, noting the company has decided to make Big Brothers and Big Sisters the charity of choice for a portion of their profits, to support their programs in the community, such as in-school mentoring and pairing Bigs and Littles.
Sweet Dreams will be making and selling dreamcatchers, including a small size for hanging in a vehicle, a regular size and dreamcatchers decorated with handmade jewelry.
These students will donate a portion of their profits to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
The students will do all of the production of this product themselves, with students in industrial arts class able to make the rings. President Sam Ferguson told the board meeting his grandparents were First Nations, and taught him how to make dreamcatchers when he was young.
As each student company went through their proposed plans, the mentors questioned them on various aspects of the product or the plan, and encouraged them in pursuing their business ideas.
In addition, teacher Margot Arnold passed along words of advice for each group, telling them, 鈥淧ush yourselves, challenge yourselves. Own your company and make it as awesome as you can.鈥�
She noted there is room for improvement in each company, and urged the students to reflect on ways they could make improvements.
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