The 2018 National Company Branding Competition is now open! Firms will demonstrate their company branding through the submission of a branding package that includes the company logo, fonts, color palette and associated applications such as: company letterhead, business cards, envelopes, cover pages, sales materials, or other similar company documents. An effective brand will be memorable, versatile, relevant to the company’s business, and consistently applied across all elements. A versatile logo is one that will look good when applied in different applications, such as brochures, websites, or promotional pens.
Consult the Company Branding Rubric available at Portal / Competitions & Rubrics / Rubrics to review submission criteria, judging criteria, Career Readiness Framework alignment, and the scoring key. Remember to review previous branding package submissions and effective brands and brand packages made in the real-world. When you’re ready, use the Competitions Manager linked below to register and submit.
You can view previous top submissions by going to Competition Results. We’ve selected the following branding packages to help demonstrate what a successful branding package looks like according to the different submission elements.
Elevator Pitch Submissions Period: 9/17/18 – 10/6/18 Elevator Pitch Judging Period: 10/4/18 – 10/18/18 Results Announced: Week of 10/29/18
The 2018 National Elevator Pitch Competition is now open! This is a video submission competition that challenges VE students to make a convincing and engaging “Elevator Pitch” to an Angel Investor in 60 seconds or less. All students are encouraged to participate in this event, regardless of their position in the company.
Consult the Elevator Pitch (Video) Rubric available at Portal / Competitions & Rubrics / Rubrics to review submission criteria, judging criteria, Career Readiness Framework alignment, and the scoring key, review previous elevator pitch videos, review strong pitches made in the real-world, and practice, practice, practice. When you’re ready to submit, use the Competitions Manager.
Prepare for Your Pitch By Reviewing Past Submissions
You can view previous Top 10% submissions on YouTube and/or Vimeo and we’ve selected the following pitches to help demonstrate what a successful pitch looks like according to the different submission elements.
Delivery
This student from Lumiere (Golden West High School, CA) provides a good example of a pitch that has been well-rehearsed yet sounds natural and engaging. Notice how he skillfully changes expression, gestures, and tones as he delivers his pitch.
Informative
Use real data to support the reasons an investor should invest in you the way this student from Poseidon Pure (Calhoun HS, NY) does in his 2017 submission.
Next Steps
Invite the audience to visit your website or follow you on social media in order to stay in touch with your company, like this student from Alpha & Omega (Lawrence County High School, TN) does in her elevator pitch.
Compelling
Don’t just recite a speech; be animated and show enthusiasm. Watch how this student from MatchWear (Francis Lewis HS, NY) engages the audience by smiling and using hand gestures throughout her video.
During the week of July 16, 2018, 10 VE-JV middle school students from San Fernando Institute of Applied Media (SFIAM) put their STEM skills to the test at the Cal Poly Pomona Student Innovation Idea Lab (iLab). The students learned how to find their target market, how to finance a start-up, about the legal aspects of a business, and much more. Students and business department faculty from Cal Poly Pomona helped guide, teach, and supervise this event.
The teams that presented during the camp pitched innovative businesses including Dr. Teeth, a brace guard that lets you eat with braces on, and Life Beacon, an app that helps injured people get help right away. Congratulations to the Dr. Teeth team for taking home first place!
A special thanks to New York Life Foundation for supporting the VE-JV program and events like these. Thank you to Erin Fitzgerald from SFIAM for your guidance throughout this educational adventure. Thank you to our judges, all Cal Poly Pomona alum, for spending time with our students; Naomi Altamirano, Berlyn Gallardo, and Peter Nguyen.
During the week of July 9, 2018, more than 160 new and veteran facilitators from all over the U.S. came together at LIU Post for the annual National Teachers Conference, the biggest VE professional development event of the year.
Teri Jones, Southern California Regional Director, VEI; Paul Presti, New York Metro Area Regional Directo, VEI; Ryan McAllister, Education Sales Leader, Intuit; Emily Watkins, Education Account Manager, Intuit; Chi Zhang, New York City Program Associate, VEI; Mohammad Hossain, Finance and Operations Manager, VEI: Gina Pol, New York City Program Coordinator, VEI
Mentorship Roundtables
VE Regional Leadership: Wendy Schmitt, Kendra Lee, Mark Jones, Cindy Boyd, Kathy Gielow, Ellen Palazzo, Irv Wortman, and Jake Stuebbe;
Alan Gersten, Tyler Fugazzie, Abril Pena, Rich Butzke, Mike Silberman, Nick Chapman, Joel Levin, Claudia & Mike Stepanovich, Wil Richburg, Jacilyn Elliott
Playing the Stock Market Game in the VE-JV class
Phillip Henry, VE-JV Facilitator, Corona Arts & Science Academy, New York; Regina Ferreira, VE-JV Facilitator, Pioneer MS, Florida
Best Practices for Implementing a Successful VE-JV Program
Joanna Gillen, VE-JV Facilitator, William McKinley JHS; Joseph Dunne-Jaffe, VE-JV Facilitator, IS 2, New York
Creating Compelling Projects on DonorsChoose.org
Katie Vallas, School & Partnership Engagement Manager, DonorsChoose.org
Business Plan Basics
Paul Presti, New York Metro Area Regional Directo, VEI
Competitions and Rubrics Updates
Nick Chapman, President and National Program Director, VEI
9th Grade - Technology Applications
Iris Blanc, Executive Director, VEI
Engaging Mentors in Your Classroom
Nick Chapman, President and National Program Director, VEI; Shauna Ruda, Director of Engagement, VEI; Amina Music, Operations Coordinator, VEI; Claudia & Mike Stepanovich, Classroom Mentors, California
Personal Finance and Resources
Alan Gersten, VE Facilitator, Century HS, California
Store Manager / POS System / Student Debit Cards
Nick Chapman, President and National Program Director, VEI
Moments & Stories: Getting National Recognition for Your Class
Tyler Fugazzie, Communications Director, VEI
Web UX: Designing a Website Customers Love
Isai Serrano, VE Facilitator, Ralph McKee High School, New York
Effective Student Portfolios
John Hanson, VE Facilitator, Neuqua Valley High School, Illinois
Preparing for a Trade Show
Mike Silberman, VE Facilitator, West Hempstead High School, New York
Intuit and VE Bring QuickBooks to Classrooms
Super stoked that @VEInternational is partnering with Intuit this year to bring ✏️Quickbooks✏️ to our VEI students! ✅Better financials,✅more certifications, ✅quality output! Whoo Hoo! @EatonHighSchool
Ryan McAllister, Education Sales Leader and Emily Watkins, Education High School Account Manager from Intuit showed VE facilitators how they can help their students manage business finances using QuickBooks. Facilitators gained access to resources and support, plus watched a live demonstration of QuickBooks features they’ll need for teaching the class.
This marked the official launch of a partnership between Intuit and VE in which every VE class will have access to QuickBooks, gaining the opportunity to develop and demonstrate real-world skills using an industry-leading accounting software package.
Future of Work: Personal Branding & Career Planning
The gig economy, remote workforce, hoteling and coworking, automation, AI, disruption… the future of work is a hot topic in today’s conversation. An even more significant point for educators is how do we prepare the next generation of young people for jobs and careers that do not yet exist?
In the Future of Work series, we explore these topics through a series of meetups, workshops, industry visits and externships designed to introduce VE facilitators to the latest trends in industry, business practice, and career development.
Robert Bernton, Head of Waze Mid Market, North America, Google; Jennifer Stredler, Vice President of Workforce Development, Salesforce.org; and Jonathan J. Stone, New Business Development Manager of Travel Partnerships, Facebook joined us on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 to discuss the future of work with VE facilitators at LMHQ in New York City.
“Young people are building a personal brand with everything they’re doing online. The way you present yourself online and offline is part of your brand.” – Robert Bernton, Head of Waze Mid Market, North America, Google @waze@google@LMHQ_NYCpic.twitter.com/TmNmDxCNtD
Nearly half a million teachers have received classroom materials through DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit platform that connects classrooms with donors who want to help teachers get books, equipment, field trips, technology, and anything else their students need.
Katie Vallas, who oversees Teacher Success on DonorsChoose, shared expert tips on what teachers who have had 50+ projects funded on DonorsChoose do to stock their classrooms, year after year.
DonorsChoose is a special partner for VE because their founder and CEO, Charles Best, was a VE facilitator who was inspired to launch DonorsChoose based on his experience working with VE students.
Thank You to LIU for Making This Conference Possible
Special thanks to Dr. Kimberly R. Cline, President, LIU for her visionary leadership and longtime support and to the whole LIU team for helping to make the 2018 National Teachers Conference such an amazing experience.
Many students don’t feel prepared for the working world. Those who do feel prepared for work may be less prepared than they realize, or they may be prepared for work that no longer exists. Here are some ways to address these challenges. @veinternationalhttps://t.co/bHOdstQAaO
Learn about the career readiness competencies VE implements in their curriculum and how students develop and demonstrate them throughout the VE experience by reading the Getting Smart article, “Preparing Students for Career Success.” The VE Career Readiness Framework is split into four categories: Leadership, Professional, Functional, and Core Technology Skills. Tyler Fugazzie, Director of Communications for VEI, breaks down each category’s dimensions in the article.
Here are some questions that VE uses as a guide in preparing students for career success:
What career readiness competencies do we currently teach?
How can we teach students about the different career readiness competencies?
What are projects students can work on to develop career readiness competencies?
How can we track the development of career readiness competencies?
How are we empowering students to explore possible career pathways?
How do we connect what students learn to the real world of work?
What activities and approaches can we take to encourage student collaboration?
How can we offer environments in the school that resemble a workplace?
How can we connect students with business leaders and industry professionals?
How are we giving students ways to test possible careers?
The National Business Plan Competition (NBPC) showcases some of the best and brightest student leaders and budding entrepreneurs in the country. 28 VE companies from around the country made it to the 2018 National Business Plan Competition after demonstrating strong written business plans and oral presentations to panels of industry professionals and educators.
Students are developing and applying their career readiness competencies through their daily work experience in the classroom, professional development activities, leadership events, major VE program components such as creating annual reports and practicing employee recognition.
As school and the VE fiscal year is winding down to an end, we would like to congratulate our graduating students and we look forward to the new generation of VE students. Stay in touch with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Former VE students came today to tell my current students about their college experiences. Among them you have future teachers, a businessman, a professor, and a dentist. To say I’m proud would be an understatement! I’m so blessed to have been their teacher. ❤️@LCHSone@lchsvepic.twitter.com/Iyb2R0WhzY
This week we want to give recognition to our facilitator, Mr. Hanson, for his commitment and guidance to Affinty. Truly one of the reasons we are who we are today! Thank you Mr. Hanson #TeacherApprecationWeekpic.twitter.com/yRK2Wmmi2P
Starting in Fall 2018, Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School will be joining the VE family as they begin offering VE-JV beginning in 7th grade. Valley Stream Memorial JHS’s 8th graders will join the program in 2019.
In addition to learning Microsoft Excel and design programs throughout the school year, the seventh graders will continue their VE-JV experience in a business leadership camp taking place the following summer.
“‘It’s really a very early jump-start for the business world,’ [Principal Brett] Strauss said, adding that the program would give students more experience in business before they entered the Future Business Leaders of America club in high school.”
On May 21, 2018, six VE firms from Neuqua Valley High School welcomed VEI President Nick Chapman to their VE closing ceremony, where they shared year-end reflections, discussed important program takeaways, and shared student portfolios and company annual reports.
Three Neuqua Valley High School students share how the VE program impacted them.
Greatest Takeaways from VE: Student Reflections
“TAXES! I learned more about personal taxes and corporate taxes, which are very essential to know about in the real world.” – Bryan Johnson, Catalyst
“That in order to succeed in real life you need to put yourself in positions that might make you uncomfortable. If you want to be the boss someday then you have to get used to leading your peers.” – Mitchell Donahue, Catalyst
“The greatest takeaway from this course is managing deadlines. Everything in VE has a due date, and that has kept me on top of all of my VE work. Now, whenever something is thrown at me, I tackle it immediately instead of putting it off, because that’s the most efficient way to work!” – Gabija Tonkunas, Chief Project Manager, Legacy
“The one greatest takeaway from this course is the professional experiences that I was able to be a part of. From interviews to résumé writing, this class gave me the most realistic outlook on what having a job really looks like and the process necessary to obtain, maintain, and be successful in a job.” – Katherine Williams, Marketing & Sales, Legacy
“I think one of the greatest takeaways from the course is the realization of how important it is to work as a team. Yes, people can attempt to do things individually (and occasionally find success), but the more valuable goals will be achieved as a team. I have also realized that it is crucial to collaborate with other departments to complete many documents and complete goals as a company.” – Joe Kennedy, Accounting & Finance, Summit
Student Portfolios
Student portfolios are a dynamic way for students to capture and share their newly-acquired work experience. A student portfolio can include a biography, résumé, professional summary, VE company information, and demonstration of the career readiness competencies (Leadership, Professional, Functional, Core Technology Skills) developed during their VE experience.
Check out links to the portfolios for four Neuqua Valley High School VE students to use as inspiration to create your own student portfolio.
Special thanks to Mr. Chapman, VEI’s national program director, for coming in and listening to Catalyst’s presentation! It was a privilege speaking to a powerful influence for our high school business education system. @NVHSBusiness@VEInternationalpic.twitter.com/SlIPSPCE87
Marketplace’s Shaheen Ainpour attended the 2018 Youth Business Summit and interviewed VE students from TropiCoffee of Cooper City High School in Cooper City, Florida and Chameleon of Spring Hill High School in Chapin, South Carolina.
The program is an effort to teach students the kind of business skills that you can’t learn from a textbook. High school student Matthew Plonskeer, TropiCoffee’s CEO, said before taking VE, he was focused on doing work for himself, “whereas here, in order to operate as a successful company … you really have to work together.”
In the 2017-18 school year, VE programs brought practical career experience to 13,000 middle and high school students from 400 schools across the United States.
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