Students move from the classroom to the boardroom

Northern Burlington high school students participate in "Apprentice"-style project with School Business Administrator Richard Kaz.

By: William Wichert
   Hands intertwined and resting on their laps, the teenage workers raised their bowed heads and looked across the boardroom table as the boss delivered the final blow.
   Somebody was getting fired.
   For television fans, this may sound like a scene out of "The Apprentice"— the NBC show where business hopefuls compete for a job under real estate mogul Donald Trump, but at Northern Burlington County Regional High School last week, it was just class.
   The workers sweating it out inside a conference room in the school library on April 6 were a group of students from two Marketing Education classes, who have been participating in an "Apprentice"-style project over the last two months.
   These juniors and seniors are not looking for a job in the school district from NBCR Business Administrator Richard Kaz, who serves as the Trump personality, but instead are working toward the ultimate prize: free prom tickets for the four remaining students.
   That success will only come after the students on the two competing teams have accomplished each of the project’s four business-oriented tasks aimed at giving them some insight into the harrowing world of corporate marketing and sales.
   "You learn to function as a team, but when you’re employed in the real world, your team changes," said Ellen Karch, the marketing teacher who organized the "Apprentice" project.
   The 17 students from the Marketing Education I class, known as the Elite Corporation, learned that lesson in their first visit to the boardroom last month, when Mr. Kaz fired six of the students, removing them from the project and sending them back to the classroom.
   Those students had failed in their first task, which was to design a T-shirt supporting the school’s wrestling team at the regional and state competitions. The Elite Corp. developed two different types of shirts and sold them at the school, but their final profits were less than those of the 12 Marketing Education II students from the Hungarian Heroes team.
   The Hungarian Heroes had won the first round, but the Elite crowd would get a second chance with task two: collect as many items as you can and sell them at the Columbus Farmers’ Market on March 24.
   The teams assembled in the boardroom last week to discover who had made the most money, but seeing the students in action at the market revealed two very different marketing strategies.
At the Market
   In the damp morning hours of March 24, as families strolled past the endless rows of outdoor tables, the members of the Elite Corp. soon learned what it takes to sell more than wrestling T-shirts to your friends at school.
   "You’re basically using your actual product, but at school, you’re using the feeling of school spirit," said senior Chris Bairo, the project manager for Elite at the farmers’ market.
   The Elite students had cleared out their home basements, gathering everything from stuffed dolls and board games to purses and clothing, but their main focus was to attract customers to the tables.
   The craft items were placed at the front of all the merchandise and the sign announcing the group’s name was attached to the archways above the tables to grab people’s attention.
   A few students walked around the market and pitched their products to passers-by. Some people became interested and followed them to the tables, while others dismissed their efforts with, "Don’t like Donald Trump. Never liked ‘Apprentice,’" one student said.
   Seniors Linda Maack and Ashley Talamine also made a pitch to other vendors at the market to purchase over 20 books that customers were not buying at the tables. "Maybe we’ll not make as much (money), but we’ll get rid of them," said Linda.
   It did not matter that this idea went beyond the traditional method of selling at a flea market. They had books and they wanted to a make a profit. The Elite Corp. needed to sell as many items as possible, by whatever means necessary.
   "It’s all selling and knowing your customers and human relations," said senior Patrick King.
   When the students came to understand their customers’ mentality, they altered their strategy. Patrick said clothing items were listed as 50 cents each, but the students sold more after changing the sign to also read, "4 for $1."
   At the Hungarian Heroes tables, where shirts were priced 3 for $5, the main strategy was to set higher prices and let customers haggle the students down to an acceptable amount.
   "We can have a whole pile of stuff, but if we sell everything for less, it won’t benefit us in the end," said senior Rene Taggart, standing behind three tables filled with clothing, stuffed animals, pieces of luggage and other products.
   Hungarian members said this method backfired at times and customers walked away in response to the high prices. However, in other cases, a sale was made. One computer, originally listed as $40, sold for $20, and two lamps were purchased as a matching set.
   "It’s a life (lesson) really," said senior Greg Walters. "If down the road, you’re selling your house, you have marketing skills and know what to expect from people."
   To attract more customers to their tables, senior Chris Perkins, the group’s project manager, sent two people at a time into the farmers’ market building to spread the word about the Hungarian Heroes.
   "I went inside. I yelled. I advertised," said Rene, who said the group works well together because they have known each other for many years. "Our class works really well as a team. We’ve grown up together."
   But that close relationship would make implicating a team member inside the boardroom much more difficult, said Rene. "It’s good, but it’s bad, because you don’t want to hurt the person," she said.
   Senior Ossy Williamson said she was happy that the team won the first task, so they wouldn’t have to deal with that situation. "That’s why I’m glad we won, because I don’t want to vote anybody off," she said.
In the Boardroom
   Once the final profits were in, however, voting somebody off was exactly the dilemma faced by the Hungarian Heroes.
   High school Principal Eric Barnett, who was assigned with overseeing the group’s work, said the students went the extra mile to attract customers, but only earned $331, mostly because they sold less products than Elite Corp. "You dropped the ball in that area," he said.
   The Elite members brought home a total profit of $417.08, even though some customers were discouraged by how some students were hanging out at the back of the tables, said Vice Principal Marie Tirrell, who reported back to Mr. Kaz on that group’s success.
   But Mr. Kaz wanted to hear what went wrong from Chris Perkins, the Hungarian Heroes project manager.
   "We worked as hard as we could," said Chris. "I think we haggled too much and dropped the prices on too much of our stuff."
   Chris said he thought he had the advantage over the other group, because of his prior knowledge of the Columbus Farmers’ Market, where bargaining with customers frequently occurs.
   "Didn’t work?" Mr. Kaz quickly responded.
   "No," Chris said quietly.
   The members of the Elite Corp. were soon excused, having won safe harbor from elimination and some free movie tickets, while the Hungarian Heroes sat stone-faced before Mr. Kaz and his associates.
   The remaining members of the two teams would face-off again on the third task of the project, which involved designing a billboard to be placed on Route 206, but several layoffs had to take place in the meantime.
   "This isn’t going to be a dictatorship, where we decide who gets fired," said Mr. Kaz before asking Chris to name a few teammates who helped to make the most profits.
   Chris mentioned a few people who were extremely efficient in generating sales, but then there was that second question, looming on the horizon.
   "Now for the pressure question," said Mr. Kaz. "Who do you believe among the group did not work as hard as the rest?"
   Slowly, Chris revealed a few people whom he said did not work at the tables very much, and Mr. Kaz compared them to a list provided to him by some "informants in the field."
   Between the two sources, seven people were identified, including Chris, but only five had to be sent home.
   A few teammates came to the defense of Chris and another girl on the list. Ossy said Chris bought everybody coffee at the farmers’ market and then kept running around to make sales during the morning. Their names were removed from the list, but Mr. Kaz still had a job to do.
   "I’m going to have to say goodbye to you guys," he said. "You’re fired."