Orrville Beats Wooster in Apprentice Challenge!
Submitted by JB Bryant, CEO, Strategic Alignment Group LLC
OrrViews, May 07, 2010

That’s right. We can beat ’em in sports and business!

Rochelle LeFever, Jaren Hershey, Adrian Tolentino, Allyson Davisson, Lauren Mastroine, and Sara Aultz, all Juniors at Orrville High School, participated in the Spring 2010 Apprentice Challenge.

Originally a competition between two Orrville teams, this third Apprentice Challenge was kicked up a notch as they took on Wooster High School. We left them feeling, well, Generally Blue!

Here’s how it worked: Each team was given $1,200 in seed money to start a business, and 6 weeks (March 8 through April 23) to generate as much profit as possible. Team Red Rider generated a whopping $2,103 in profit.

The business they developed? Advertising. They planted a tree for Earth Day, and they allowed businesses and individuals to support environmental responsibility by advertising on an accompanying plaque (see photo). On the plaque are the following advertisers: Brenner Grain Farms, Sundale Stock Farm, City of Orrville Employees, Wayne County Community FCU, Chris Blough, Pickett & Pickett Tax Agency, Paul & Jenni Reusser, Auble Funneral Home, Orrville Veterinary Clinic & Orrville Pet Spa and Resort, PackShip USA, Jarrett Logistics, Networking Wayne, Baughman Guys & Gals 4-H Club, Rod & Nancy Webner, George W. Springer, Ric Snyder, JCP Services, Mennonite Mutual Ins. Co., State Farm Ins. Co., The Davey Nursery, In Loving Memory of Sally Ann Plybon, Dave & Tammy Hershey, The Aultz’s, The Stauffer’s, Lettergraphics, Inc.

The tree is in an open area of Orr Park, on the east side of Ella St. just to the north of the baseball field that is directly across from the Board of Education parking lot. The team wants to thank all advertisers for making them a success!

Profit from Orrville’s Apprentice Challenge is divided three ways. The winners keep 1/3 as their earnings, donate 1/3 to Main Street Orrville, and contribute 1/3 to the next team’s seed money.

The students were mentored by two Orrville businessmen:  JB Bryant, CEO of Strategic Alignment Group and Adam Hanzie, Sr. Operations Supervisor at PackShip USA.

The Apprentice Challenge is a project of Main Street Orrville, is overseen by the MSO board, and is organized by Mike Jarrett, president of Jarrett Logistics Systems and PackShip USA.
Congratulations to the Spring 2010 Apprentice Challenge Team!

After the competition, the students were asked to reflect what they learned:

• “Leadership, responsibility, reliability, and determination, allowed me to be a strong manager. Now that I know I have the capability to succeed in something I never imagined myself doing, the expectations I hold for myself are high.” - Rochelle
• “I learned that in business, you have to set goals, be organized, and be optimistic. Setting goals is important because you want to set a high standard in whatever you are doing. That way, if you are successful with your goal, you are satisfied with your performance. Being organized in multiple ways such as in time and book keeping is important. I also learned that you must listen to experienced people. As teenagers, we often are close-minded. But through this challenge, I learned that you have to listen to others to be influenced in a positive way.” - Adrian
• “I learned to start things way in advanced, so that there isn't unnecessary frustration. I learned too that having a ‘manager’ was very helpful, because we could text or call her anytime we had a problem or needed to ask a question. Finally, I learned that splitting everyone up and having different jobs was a lot easier.” - Lauren
• “I've learned a lot about how business work and how much effort is put into making something as small as planting a tree happen. Also I learned how to talk to big businesses and communicate what I need to get across while still keeping their full attention. I also learned (the hard way) that business takes time and a lot of it.” - Jaren
• “From this experience I learned a lot about time management and how to work well with other people.” - Allyson
• “If you want to do something you must commit to it. Business takes a lot of time and hard work. You need to be on top of your game and give it your all.” - Sara

NOTE: The above quotations are only clips. The full text of their lessons learned is here.