Michael Tong, a ninth grader at SHS earned first place in this year’s Virtual Junior Achievement Titan CEO Challenge! It’s a simulation-based competition where students apply their knowledge of business as they compete in the cell phone industry. Students acted as the CEO of their own company and made decisions about price, production, marketing, capital investment, research and development, and corporate social responsibility.
Michael, who named his company The World said, “I am very excited to win first place in this fascinating competition. I want to thank my business class teacher, Mrs. Randall. She is a great teacher. In addition, I want to thank our school for providing us this opportunity to participate in this hands-on and dynamic competition. I learned a lot from this contest. This competition strengthened my interest in the business field for sure.”
Of the 132 students across several school districts throughout the region that competed, 63 were from Mrs. Randall’s Introduction to Business II class at Shaker. The top 3 winners were determined based on total “victory currencies”, net profit and corporate social responsibility. This challenge provided students with the opportunity to experience how an organization evaluates alternatives, makes decisions, analyzes the outcomes of those decisions, and then strategizes for the future. The impact of their decisions led to the success or failure of their company.
“Participating in the JA Program and the Titan CEO Challenge was a great interactive learning experience for my students! Not only were the students applying the concepts they learned in class, but they were using higher level thinking skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, to remain competitive amongst the other students. It was a fun way to learn and the students enjoyed the friendly competition,” said Mrs. Randall.
In preparation, students participated in a series of lessons during class time, and received a virtual visit from a local CEO mentor. The following CEOs shared their experiences and answered student questions about managing a business and leading people: Chris McKenna (President & CEO of CAP COM Federal Credit Union), Purna Kharel (President & CEO of K & A Engineering Consulting), and Sasa Mirkovic (Managing Partner of Inspire Confidence Group). Mr. Kharel was the mentor for Mrs. Randall’s fourth period, which is the class Michael Tong is in.