Young people get early orientation to business world

By ROB MARINO
Special to Essex County Newspapers

In today’s competitive business world, young people on the North Shore are jump-starting their careers. With the help of local programs aimed at educating students about business, many teenagers are attaining important job skills that will last a lifetime.

One such program is the Lucky Lobster, a marketing group at Gloucester High School. The group was formed two years ago as an outgrowth of the school's desktop publishing and multimedia class.

"We do marketing and desktop publishing for Cape Ann communities," says Ann Grassetti, business department program leader and a teacher at the school.

The group primarily works with companies that cannot afford to hire larger marketing firms. "The purpose of the class is to teach the students how to run a business, and at the end of the year, they all get savings bonds," says Grassetti. The three top students receive scholarships of about $200 each.

The young people receive computer training and then apply for various positions. Each student is given a specific business position, and the group must work with clients without the help of the teacher _ even when dealing with unsatisfied customers. "The students all have to work together as a team," Grassetti says. "You don't work in isolation in the real world."

Holly Bacon, 19, of Rockport, was president of the group from September 1997 to June 1998. She now studies computer science as a sophomore at Daniel Webster College. "The program gave me a good sense of the business," she says. "It gave me a lot of confidence in the business world and tips on how to talk to business professionals."

The Business Education Collaborative is an ad-hoc group made up of Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce members. The group has played a key role in helping students increase their business knowledge. "We were instrumental in creating a Cape Ann Savings Bank branch in the halls of Gloucester High School," says group member Ron Ross.

The bank has been in the school for more than 10 years, and students can work there as part of the school's banking courses and business curriculum.

"The students who work there are considered employees of the Cape Ann Savings Bank," Ross says. "They handle all the banking transactions for all the students, faculty and administration at the school."

Newburyport High School also has a banking course. "They run an actual bank right within the building," says Cheryl York, school secretary.

For three years, First and Ocean Bank has had a branch in the school similar to the setup at Gloucester High School. Although there is a supervisor from the main bank, the students handle all transactions. Not only can students and faculty use the bank, but so can people from outside the school.

"Let's Get Real," a program founded in 1992 by the Salem Chamber of Commerce, is aimed at educating younger students about business careers. Chamber of Commerce members Ellen DiGeronimo and Joan Peck targeted eighth-graders at Collins Middle School for an introduction to the realities of the working world.

"`Let's Get Real' believes that community businesses are obligated to educate their youth in proper methods of business conduct and practices," Peck says. "Its purpose is to initiate middle-school students into the real world of business by helping them understand what employers expect from them as employees."

Business people go to the school to talk to students about such areas as personal and business ethics, self-esteem issues and cultural and gender differences in communication. "The program is now integrated with the school's curriculum, which is really nice," says Peck.

The DECA program at Manchester High School also educates young people to become future business leaders.

"The program is centered around marketing education, and it gives students a chance to interact with the business community on a competitive level," says Kathleen Benoit, DECA coordinator. "The students are trained in marketing in the classroom, and then they get a chance to put their skills into practice through competition."

For the last 12 years, students in the DECA program have taken home awards from career development conferences at the district, state and national levels. Last year, a DECA student won the national trophy for individual competition, giving the group its third nationals win.

"The odds to be able to do that are tremendous. We compete with some huge schools," Benoit says, adding that Nancy Borsetti, the marketing education teacher, deserves much credit.

Amber King, 17, a senior at the school, will participate in DECA again this year. King's experience with DECA and a leadership development conference in Atlanta have helped her focus on her career goals.

"I've been totally changed by it," she says. "I didn't even know what DECA was when I signed up. I just took the course, and now I love it. I want to major in marketing."

King recently took second place at a district career development conference in Danvers. She had to take a 100-question test and then take an oral problem-solving exam in front of a judge.

"Winning second place at districts in front of all those people was just unbelievable. I had no idea that I really had it in me," King says. "It's a self-esteem booster."