Camp simulates corporation for area high school students

Perryville High School junior Lyndsey Weisbrod spent much of Friday away from the classroom and in Cape Girardeau serving as chief executive officer of Izumi Inc.

Throughout the day her team of five decided how much to spend on research, development, marketing and charitable giving. By the end of the day Izumi had created what they called a Halo generator, but you won't find their product in a store.

That's because the company only existed at the 16th annual Camp Enterprise, a one-day business simulation and seminar attended by 60 students from 14 area schools. Students were split up and assigned to 12 teams to compete to become the top two finishers by the end of the competition. The competition simulated the operation of a corporation for 18 five-minute quarters of business in the morning and 30 three-minute quarters in the afternoon. This year's winning teams were M&M and Indian Inc.

For Weisbrod the experience was an unforgettable learning experience.

"I enjoyed learning how an actual business operates," Weisbrod said. "Most people our age don't realize the basics of what a corporation goes through to develop a product."

Five Southeast Missouri Rotary Clubs, Junior Achievement and 23 businesses sponsored the competition held at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. Camp Enterprise chairwoman Brigitte Bollerslev underscored the importance of the students learning such skills.

"Forming a company and going through the process of creating a product is valuable for those who participated in Camp Enterprise," Bollerslev said. "That's helpful, especially in the tight economy we're in today."

Merideth Pobst of Junior Achievement, which created the JA Titan software used in the competition, said Camp Enterprise exposes young people to real-world experience.

"This program uses all factors of business to help the teams make their decisions in a fun learning environment," Pobst said. "Some of the students wonder early in the morning how the research they're doing benefits the company, and that can lead to impatient decisions. But by the end of the day they understand the importance of doing the research once the end product is complete."

Derek Menz, a senior at Central High School, at first questioned how the software related to real-world corporations. But as the afternoon neared he began to put the pieces together.

"This was a lot of fun," Menz said. "Plus I was able to learn how it relates to production, turning a profit and other parts of developing a product."

In addition to the competition, participants had a chance to win an iPod and one of four $500 college scholarships through a random drawing. Andrew Oeniskoetter of Eagle Ridge Christian School, Jarod Koenig of Saxony Lutheran High School, Dana Jennings of Jackson High School and Tyler Brune of Meadow Heights High School received the scholarships. Ashley Hoyer of Puxico High School won the iPod.

Bollerslev said the scholarships alone can be life-changing.

"I remember of one young man who won a scholarship and he said that being one of the winners of it was a major factor in his decision to go to college," Bollerslev said. "That was a big step for him and at Rotary we have mentors who can come alongside men and women to provide some guidance."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

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