Phoenix rises for Liverpool in JA competition

On that day, 23 teams of students from across Nova Scotia descended on the World Trade Centre in Halifax to compete in five divisions at the JA Titan Competition. Team Phoenix earned a quick berth to the Challenge during the morning competition.

At the on-line Global Business challenge, the final eight teams left standing after the initial rounds will meet face-to-face in the finals, scheduled for Aug. 2009 in Brazil.

Teacher and volunteer, Keltie Johnson led the training with weekly CD Rom based sessions. The team members are Grade 11 students, Ashley Lohnes, Neal Callaghan, and Wade Davison and Grade 12 students, Ben Callaghan and Ali Cameron. The Grade 12 students helped pick their Grade 11 counterparts.

Ali says the result is “exciting. You’re on a team for two years and last year we didn’t get too far.” She and Callaghan were members of last year’s team.

Ben says, “We worked well together and it sort of gives you an idea of how business works. We had to make decisions on production, price and marketing.”

The students enjoyed the game itself. Ali says, “It’s set in the future. If you get so far you get to go to outer space. It’s really cool.”

A Junior Achievement press release describes the competition. “Set in the year 2035, JA Titan creates a world where players are CEOs of their own companies using an on-line simulation environment. Students “run” a manufacturing company and master five key decisions: price; production levels; marketing expenses; research and development costs; and capital investment. Using the on-line game, students develop strategies, input associated assumptions, and test those assumptions to see the impact on their business.”

Decisions at the Halifax competition were made on paper, however. Wade says the competition and game is similar to real life but not quite. “You have numbers in front of you but it wouldn’t be in as much detail as the real world.”

Ali then laughed. “There were stare down matches and signs turned so you can’t see who they were,” during the competition.

Keltie Johnson says she is proud of the team’s effort and that it is a good business experience for the youth. “They worked well together and the Grade 12 students helped the Grade 11s, which is great because they will take it over next year.”

Ali has run two businesses, selling homemade pillows and slushies. She appears to be the only one with business experience. However, she says her future involves studying sociology. Ben is planning to study chemistry.

Junior Achievement is an international not-for-profit organization established and owned by the business community. Its purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. In Nova Scotia JA offers five programs: Our Business World; A Business of Our Own; the Economics of Staying in School; Company Program; and JA Titan. JA programs help students understand economic principles and develop entrepreneurial, leadership and interpersonal skills.