Students invest in interests

Darleene Barrientos

Crescenta Valley High School students are learning about business by

drawing up their own business plans and presenting them to fellow

classmates.

The economics students each receive an imaginary $10,000 to

invest. The students noted supply and demand curves, checked federal,

state and local government regulations, designed logos, devised an

advertising campaign plan and created start-up budgets for their mock

businesses. The information they compiled was presented to classmates

as a business plan. Some of the businesses proposed included a

computer repair company, an aftermarket automotive retail store and a

day spa.

Teacher Pia Imperial thought the idea would be an excellent way to

make economics come to life for her students. Little did she know her

pupils would take the idea and bring it to a new level with

technology that is standard for most of today’s students.

One student used Microsoft PowerPoint to create a flashy,

professional-looking advertisement for his computer business. Others

used Adobe Photoshop to put together their fliers as advertisements.

“The caliber, especially for the commercials, I was very impressed

by that,” Imperial said. “They went all out and looked very

professional.”

The group pitching an automotive aftermarket parts store called

“Hook It Up” was especially impressive to Imperial, who said its

business plan was reminiscent of the popular MTV show “Pimp My Ride.”

“They spliced professional video of cars and put some video of

their own. It was so well done, I couldn’t tell which was

professional and which was their own,” she said.

The economics lessons were exciting for a seasoned businessman

like Greg Apodaca, who was invited to the class to critique each

presentation.

“The only business class in my high school was business law, which

was very boring. I wish they offered a [class] like this when I was

in high school,” Apodaca said.

The project allowed 18-year-old John Sarieh to learn what really

goes into starting a business.

“It was not easy, but I liked it because it was challenging. This

is something you can use in real life, so it’s valuable,” Sarieh

said.

In the end, most of the businesses that won enough investment

money to get off the ground were the ones with a healthy dose of

passion. Audrey D’Aggignies, 17, said the car parts store would win

her investment money because of the group’s enthusiasm for the

presentation.

“They had more of a vibe, they were more into it, and they were

more passionate about it,” Audrey said.