Valley student claims top honours

A G.P. Vanier Secondary School student earned a first-place finish at the BC Business Challenge.

VANIER SECONDARY SCHOOL student Hella Skrilla accepts her award for first place at a provincial business competition.

VANIER SECONDARY SCHOOL student Hella Skrilla accepts her award for first place at a provincial business competition.

Record Staff

A G.P. Vanier Secondary School student earned a first-place finish as business students from across the province competed at Junior Achievement of BC’s (JABC) 15th annual BC Business Challenge.

Hella Skrilla topped the Executive Market category at the competition this week in Vancouver.

The challenge is a fast-paced competition where Grade 11 and 12 students take on the role of high-tech executives in a global business simulation. The intense day of competition has teams working against the clock to develop management strategies for their imaginary companies, analyzing financial reports and scrutinizing the actions of other companies in a futuristic marketplace.

Twenty-one teams worked through 18 quarters of business to bring their futuristic product, a miniature audio player capable of generating holographic images, to market. They determined pricing, production levels and dollars to be spent in marketing, capital investment, and research and development.

Teams were split into three marketplace levels based on experience with the JA Titan Program: Titans (most experienced), Executives (some experience) and Entrepreneurs (new to the game).

The students are participants of the JA Titan Business Game, an interactive online program that takes budding entrepreneurs through the course of managing business in an ever-changing, technology-driven marketplace.

Designed to simulate actual business situations, students face very real and tough issues related to human resources, marketing, research and development, and more.

Guest speaker Michael McCarthy, VP small and medium business B.C. at Telus, spoke about how students can explore different career options and follow their passions to be successful in a growing world economy.

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to educating young people about business.

www.jabc.org.

—  Junior Achievement of BC

Comox Valley Record