Ninth-graders win Boss Challenge finance competition
Clinton Public School District
Dr. Tim Martin, Superintendent
(601) 924-7533
Media contact: Sandi Beason, APR
CLINTON — Kelvin Woodruff, Kayleigh Kupietz, Jason Jones, Ella Bailey and Keariel Bracey are all students at Sumner Hill Junior High School, all taking Bradley Pope’s Personal Finance class, and all winners of the Boss Challenge.
The Boss Challenge is a business simulation competition where students are put in charge of running their own company for eight weeks and work as a team to make decisions and overcome obstacles. The Sumner Hill team was the only all-freshman group and beat not only teams that included 10th, 11th and 12th-graders but was also the only team to beat both of the computer-generated companies. The highest score a team could achieve based on contribution margins, sales, and reaching strategic goals was 40 points, and the all-freshman team received 39 out of 40.
Selena Swartzfager, president of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education, visited Sumner Hill to congratulate the team.
“What I am most impressed by is the motivation that this group shows,” she said. “You are all high achievers and that is clear.”
She was not the only one impressed by the students’ drive and excitement for the competition. Bradley Pope, organizer of the team at Sumner Hill and Personal Finance teacher, was amazed at the immense amount of growth in his students that he could see from week to week.
“This group absolutely ate up the challenge,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the growth that I have seen from the students from beginning to end, it’s unparalleled. I’ve loved every moment of it.”
The team members loved the experience as well. Both Ella and Kayleigh said they were sad the competition was over. Kelvin said the competition, “really brought us together and made us friends, it helped us to bond.”
Sumner Hill Principal Christie Claxton is excited for her students and hopes to give them the recognition they deserve for all the hard work they put into this competition.
“This was a great experience for the students. Not only did they learn finance skills and strategies, they were able to network and extend their reach,” she said.
The team will receive plaques and medals to acknowledge and celebrate their first-place victory, and when asked if they would ever compete again, “Oh, yes!” they said.
Press release by CPSD communications intern Lexey Monceaux
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