Ladera Ranch Middle school is running their own Virtual Enterprise program for the first time in order to better prepare students for the competitive nature of VE at the high school level. It is meant to teach students business skills at a young age by creating the company Float Boat.
Due to the complex nature of VE and starting a business, Float Boat decided to base their company branding and product Benefizz, instead of selling prepacked dirty soda Float Boat sells prepacked soda floats.
On March fifth Float Boat went to their first trade show with Benefizz mentoring on how to properly conduct a trade show. Being a JV team Float Boat had two main goals- make as many sales as they can, and compete in the Trade Show Booth Design competition as it’s the only competition available to JV teams at the San Bernardino Tradeshow. When the tradeshow concluded, Float Boat won fifth place in Trade Show Booth Design.
Although Float Boat was only able to participate in a single trade show, students were able to prove they are capable of being successful in the VE world as many were able to learn the valuable skills needed to compete and have a successful business. Meaning when those students participate in their first year in VE, they won’t struggle as much figuring out how VE works like many first year students have.
