Hillhouse Students Make Business Presentations

NEW HAVEN – After weeks of preparation, Hillhouse JAG students made presentations to their classmates about new businesses they would like to own someday. The students spent several class periods designing and creating their businesses, seeing them through from beginning to end.

Initially, they were given a rubric and some leading questions to help them brainstorm what they would like to focus on. Students had to think about the purpose of their business before coming up with a name, mission statement, slogan, and logo for their chosen business. They were asked to consider what types of employees they would want to hire and the dress code that would be required of employees. Finally, students had to design a poster, power point, or use another visual to present to their peers.

Students were innovative in thought and original with their creations. Ideas ranged from restaurants and candy companies to tattoo parlors to shoe restoration to cell phone e-commerce sites to a sports media and jersey sales company to helping children and other students, like DaShawnda McCullough’s “Hope 4 Kidz.” Ashley Vigio took it a step further with her Ashley’s Bakery business, as she investigated her competitor’s prices, discussed her target market, shared her menu and pricing, and talked about the benefits of her bakery compared to the others in town and how she would be socially responsible.

Dr. Martin Estey visits New Horizons

New Horizons students were visited today by Dr. Martin Estey, Executive Director of The Hartford Consortium of Higher Education, parent company of JAG CT.

Since his was a new face to most New Horizons students, I introduced Dr. Estey and explained that he would meet individually with each student to ask questions about how they feel about the JAG program.

“Whenever you meet someone new, you never know if that person will have something to offer you,” Dr. Estey stated.

While JAG frequently brings in guest speakers, Dr. Estey showed the importance of proper communication skills by taking each students through a short interview with him. After speaking with all students, he gave a $10 prize to the student who impressed him the most – just as the most impressive candidate in a real job search comes away with the job

Dr. Estey stressed the importance of active listening as well as presenting your own thoughts clearly. “It is so important to always show respect, interest, and professionalism.”

At the conclusion of the exercise Dr. Estey presented senior Nick Davis with a reward. Why Nick? “I was polite and professional, like I always try to be,” Nick explained.

We then discussed, as a class, the importance of presenting a professional self, the dynamics at play when an employer has to select one person for a job, and what specific things students can do to show interest and respect and develop a rapport with people, even when they don’t yet know them well.

A special thank you Dr. Estey for visiting us!

Teamwork works at New Horizons

Senior New Horizons students Nick Davis, Terrance Draughn, Lamar Parker and Ronnaisa Shepard demonstrate effective teamwork during their JAG class. New Horizons’ JAG students were given the task of working with straws and masking tape to create a structure which will be used to catch a golf ball, dropped from 3 feet.

As a JAG specialist, I focus on teaching my students how to recognize successful teamwork both in school and the workplace. Several of the JAG competencies include team membership and team leadership.

Each team was given the same materials and the freedom to create their structure. Such activities support crucial skills including an ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams, flexibility and willingness to help each other in making needed compromises to accomplish a common goal, and sharing responsibility for collaborative work. Students also saw individual contributions made by each team member.