Students to Pitch Ads in Business Exercise

Edison High School fronts Magnolia Avenue, but on Saturday the street’s name might properly be Madison Avenue.

From 9 a.m. to noon, 27 teams of high school students will be formally pitching their advertising campaigns to executives of nine companies, who will then pick what they consider to be the top proposal.

Students will be dressed in business attire for the competition, called the Gateway Simulation.

“It’s a real hands-on experience for these students,” said Ann Yellan, a parent and steering committee member for the high school’s Center for International Business and Communication Studies.

Yellan said that 110 Edison High students are enrolled in the CIBAC program. The Gateway Simulation is an academic contest that gives them experience with actual business problems and presents awards for the best results.

To compete for fictional advertising contracts, the CIBAC students interviewed company officials about programs that the firms wanted. The students then did extensive research and writing.

“This work gives the students an idea how the business world operates,” Yellan said. “It helps them with their school curriculum also because several subjects are involved. For instance, some of the students will be composing letters [to suggested foreign markets] in Chinese and Spanish.”