AIS is First School in Nation to Participate in Mindshop Business Training Program
I thought it was going to be one of those meetings when Mr. Marc Borelli of Pegasus Partners asked to meet with Tobin Bechtel and me in December. He was looking to establish a "partnership" with AIS and had an "exciting opportunity" to discuss. Clearly, he was trying to sell us something.
We met. And to my enormous surprise and relief, Mr. Borelli was sharing a very inspiring idea. I left the meeting energized by the message Marc was delivering. He introduced the concept of the Mindshop Excellence Programme, a program that has been in existence in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and South Africa for a significant amount of time.
What is Mindshop Excellence? The following explanation comes from their website:
"Mindshop Excellence is a structured five-day Work Experience Program for small groups of Year 10 -12 students. The program, developed almost 10 years ago, is the community purpose of the Mindshop Organization and is recognized Australia-wide as a valuable learning opportunity for young people to develop enterprising skills. It is administered by the Mindshop Educational Trust Board, and all members and Mindshop Excellence Facilitators donate their time. The program aims to immerse the students in a real problem, selected by the host company. The students are taught unique problem-solving tools to develop skills in presentation, critical thinking, goal setting and meeting deadlines. The students are seen as real partners with a valued role to play."
Thirteen of our eleventh grade students spent the first week of the winter vacation participating in the Mindshop Excellence program, making them the first group of students in the United States and Canada to participate in this venture. A local company (IBT Enterprises) hosted the 13 volunteers and they spent the week in two teams, working towards solving real world business challenges posed to them by the Senior Management team. The students were Nik Beisert, Rachel Bucey, Oliver Droege, Cesar Harari, Christine Head, Vincent Leibbrandt, Courtney Rees, Hannah Rueckel, Sarah Talebagha, Maggie Thomas, Ben Tracy, Charles Vanijcharoenkarn and KeYong Wan.
IBT, to quote their website, is a company that "is the leading provider of specialty retail solutions." In retail outlets ranging from banks to coffee shops, the company aims to maximize revenue for the client by producing the most appropriate design for the outlet."
At the end of the week, our students presented their findings and solutions to the Senior Management team. Their parents were also invited to attend the presentation. The first group researched ways for the company to reach out more effectively to the Hispanic community, particularly for their banking clients. The second group presented a number of options for IBT to cut their overhead costs and thereby reduce expenses. The students included PowerPoint presentations and took turns to cover different aspects of their research, answering probing questions and showing a depth of analysis and critical thinking that would have been impressive in people with several years of business experience. IBT managers were seen taking copious notes and several thanked the students for giving them useful and practical ideas. The CEO of IBT, Mylle Mangum (coincidentally a former AIS founding trustee), told the parents who attended, "I congratulate you as parents for sending your children to a school that produces such accomplished students. I hope today’s presentation helped to convince you that you made the right choice for their education."
The team at IBT was delighted with our students, who were excellent ambassadors for AIS. Mr. Borelli is keen to continue this partnership, ensuring that students at AIS can benefit from this excellent experience for years to come. My thanks to Louise Geddes from whom the original contact came; to Tobin Bechtel for not letting me drop this particular ball; to the staff at IBT for hosting our students; and to Mr. Borelli for his time, dedication and enthusiasm.
For more information on Mindshop Excellence and IBT Enterprises please see www.mindshop.com and www.ibtsource.com.