WEST IRONDEQUOIT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Irondequoit High School

Rochester, NY 14617

To: All media

From: Lou DiCesare, Business Education Teacher - 336-4633

Date: December 4, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IHS BUSINESS STUDENTS – STATE CHAMPS

Retail, Business to Business, & Sports Management. These are a few of the units of study in the Business Education program at Irondequoit High School. These three areas are also the focus of three separate nationwide on-line simulation competitions that took place over the last three weeks concluding 12/01/06 in which IHS business students competed.

Knowledgematters Inc. produces and distributes computer simulation learning tools for the classroom. Virtual Business Retail, Management, and Sports are one of three programs they have designed. The company also hosts and manages on-line competitions using these software programs for DECA (an association for marketing students) and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America).

In the DECA Virtual Business Retail competition, students were asked to maximize profits through promotional decisions such as Radio Advertising, Direct Mail, and Billboards. The country is broken up into four regions. The top two scores uploaded in each region to their website (www.knowledgematters.com) by the end of the competition will travel to the DECA International Career Conference (ICDC) in Orlando, Florida in April for the chance to compete for $1000. Students can run their simulations and upload scores as often as they like. Only your best score is accepted.

Sophomore business students and teammates Tyler Condello and Sam Kennedy claimed the New York State title. They also finished a heart-wrenching third place in the North Atlantic region with a score of $844,000 profit. This performance just missed 2nd place to qualify to compete at the DECA ICDC by a few hundred dollars. Over 1,579 teams competed nationwide in this contest. Condello and Kennedy finished 17th. IHS had 11 teams in the top 100.

Condello and Kennedy also competed in the on-line FBLA competition using the program Virtual Business Management. In this program students were asked to manage a distribution warehouse and make decisions about managing their fleet of trucks ensuring the most efficient use of their resources while negotiating additional sales. Their efforts earned them state champion honors.

In the DECA Virtual Business Sports competition, students were asked to conduct marketing research and use that information to make game-day promotional decisions as well as maximize sponsorship dollars. IHS sophomore business students Max Dowd and Cameron White finished 43rd nationwide out of 900 teams, 16th in the North Atlantic region, and first in New York State.

The second and final challenge for Retail, Management, and Sports begins January 8, 2007. The same opportunities will exist then only focusing on using different business decisions. All IHS students competing in these events are enrolled in business classes instructed by teachers Lou DiCesare and Jeanine Lent.