By Khalida Sarwari
Del Mar High School students Sydney Abel and Lyndon Enow were among 60 high school juniors who participated in a conference last month on the principles of business in the American free enterprise system.
Students from 14 high schools were invited to the Campbell Rotary Club’s third annual Enterprise Leadership Conference held over three days in Pacific Grove. The students, including those from Leigh, Prospect, Westmont, Saratoga and Los Gatos, were divided into teams of six, with three boys and three girls on each team, and were told to create a business plan for a new product or service. The keynote speakers were Jed York, president of the San Francisco 49ers, and Helen Pastorini, founder of Alain Pinet Realtors.
“I learned lessons you can’t be taught in a classroom,” said Sydney, 17. “It’s an experience I will never forget.”
Her team came in second place for a product they developed called “perfect pour.” Her group created a device that, attached to any bottle, tells the weight and calories of the product inside of it. For the final presentation, Sydney made a 3D model out of scraps of paper, tape and the top of a bottle. The winning team’s idea was a Bluetooth device that would instantly translate any language into English, a product geared mainly toward politicians.
In creating their business plans, the students were assisted by a number of prominent leaders from the business community in areas of product development, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, management structure and distribution. The judges were senior Rotarian businesspeople.
Lyndon, also 17, said he found the experience “educationally enriching.”
“I actually know what I want to do in the future,” he said. “I want to work in human resources; I want to develop a clothing company; I really want to own a restaurant or a café like Johnny Rockets.”
Bill Highley, who served as one of the team leaders, said the idea of the conference is to refine the students’ skill levels and evaluate them on the various elements of business. The students are chosen through a recruiting process that begins in October at various high schools. This year the club received 139 applications.
“We try to ignore GPA and extracurricular activities,” he said. “The application focuses on where they see themselves in 10 years from now. We evaluate for mainly their interest in and commitment to business and entrepreneurial-type work they may be interested in learning.”
After the conference, the students are asked to give another presentation to the Rotary clubs in their respective cities and then return the following year as seniors to share their experiences during the recruitment process.
Sydney said the conference was very similar to a camp experience.
“I’m still friends with everyone in my group,” she said. “I loved it so much. I wish everyone could do it.”
The conference was held in partnership with the Saratoga, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara Rotary Clubs.
