Students learn business skills at Camp Enterprise

Jackson High School senior Leigha Wilkerson gleefully huddled around a computer screen with a group of other students Friday afternoon, making decisions on a simulated business program.

"We're making money," she said as she looked over numbers on the screen that kept track of the simulated sales. "We're doing good."

Around her, nine other groups of area high school students were competing in the challenge of running a business as part of Camp Enterprise. Six Southeast Missouri Rotary clubs sponsored the competition held at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center.

Rotary clubs have been holding the annual competition for 14 years.

Eighty-one students from a dozen high schools took part in this year's Camp Enterprise. Their goal: run a virtual manufacturing business.

The program simulated the operation of the business for 90 months, with the groups forced to make "quarterly" decisions within four minutes. In all, the students had to make 30 quarterly decisions during the afternoon session.

Students spent the morning session learning about the business simulation.

"This is one of the few exercises where students can sit down and run a company," said Brad Kasten, a member of the Jackson Rotary Club, which helped sponsor the event.

Each group of students had to make business decisions ranging from how much to charge for their product to how much to spend on research and development and charitable giving.

Besides learning business skills, participants had a chance to have their names drawn for four $500 college scholarships. Gabrielle Garrintano of Jackson High School, Kyle Brown of Woodland High School, Lisa Schnurbusch of Perryville High School and Jacalyn Hoehn of Saxony Lutheran High School received the scholarships.

Camp Enterprise uses a business simulation program provided by Junior Achievement, an organization that currently teaches business skills and ethics to 8 million students in 114 countries.

Lori Jacob, who heads the Junior Achievement office in St. Louis, visited the Camp Enterprise competition on Friday.

Junior Achievement's goal, she said, is to educate young people to succeed in a global economy.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123