FALL 2006 NEWSLETTER
In This Edition:
BestPrep
Finishes Record Year
RBC Dain Rauscher Brings
InvestWrite to Minnesota
BestPrep's CEO Masters
The Stock Market Game Celebrates 15 Years: Free Teams!
Classroom Plus Focuses on Financial Literacy
Minnesota Business Venture: Recap 2006
eMentors: TECH CORPS Fastest Growing Program
Technology Integration Workshop Recap
Fall 2006 Volunteer Opportunities
Contribute to BestPrep through United Way
The focus of BestPrep's annual Board Retreat fifteen months ago was to develop plans for the organization’s 30th Anniversary. All agreed the goal was to celebrate, create visibility and look for on-going ways to reach more students. Reflecting back, no one could have imagined the success that transpired.
142,000 students were served during the 2005-06 school year representing a 42% increase over last year. Due to the philanthropic support of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, General Mills Foundation, US Bancorp Foundation, 3M, Piper Jaffray & Co. and Victory by Design almost $60,000 was raised for BestPrep’s 30th Anniversary Program Expansion Fund. This fund will be used to continue expanding BestPrep programs.
Nationally acclaimed author and speaker Ken Blanchard also helped BestPrep celebrate by speaking to more than 800 business representatives, teachers, students, and parents who attended the Ken Blanchard Business Forum and Annual Luncheon sponsored by Thrivent Financia for Lutheransl.
The organization’s special event, “Birdies for BestPrep,” was a huge success clearing a record $80,000 in 2006, a 12% increase from the previous year.
More than 100 newspaper articles appeared throughout the year highlighting BestPrep programs.
Finally, BestPrep finished its fiscal year with a $27,000 surplus, raising
almost one million dollars. To all of our funders, volunteers, board, and staff,
thank you for making BestPrep's 30th anniversary year one we will never forget.
RBC Dain Rauscher Brings InvestWrite to Minnesota
Through a special sponsorship from RBC Dain Rauscher, a unique new statewide competition was added to the Stock Market Game™ (SMG). InvestWrite, an academic extension of The SMG program is designed to help students sharpen critical thinking skills as they compose essays on investment related topics.
Stock Market Game teachers from across the state worked with their students as each put together a 700-word essay. Twenty-thousand dollars in prizes were awarded on behalf of RBC Dain Rauscher. Student winners, teachers and parents also attended an award reception hosted by RBC Dain Rauscher. John Taft, President & CEO of Dain Rauscher and Andre Lewis, Director, Sponsorships, Marketing and Community Affairs presided over the ceremony presenting awards including trips to Chicago, laptops, and iPods. Harriet Bishop Elementary, Hillcrest Community School, St. John the Evangelist, Buffalo Community School, Wayzata High School, and Alden-Conger High School were the top finishers in the state.
According to the first place winning teacher, Candy Lee, Business Education teacher at Wayzata High School, “The support [RBC Dain Rauscher] has provided to my school over the years has resulted in increased learning for my students as well as exposed them to the ‘real world’ of business.”
RBC Dain Rauscher also sponsored a special Stock Market Game competition amongst its branches who partnered with their local schools. Financial Consultants visited the classrooms to advise the students on investment portfolios and to assist them as they developed their essays. The teachers and students of Minnesota are indebted to RBC Dain Rauscher for their commitment to improving the financial literacy of Minnesota students.
Minnesota
CEOs “Tee Up” for Education
BestPrep will hold its first annual CEO Masters golf tournament, presented
by Cross Telecom, on September 18, 2006 at the Town & Country Club in St.
Paul. The purpose of the CEO Masters is three-fold: recognize Minnesota CEOs
and their companies for their commitment to education, emphasize the importance
of business education and financial literacy, and raise funds for BestPrep’s
business and financial literacy programs.
CEOs participating in the tournament include: Bob Coughlin of Cross Telecom,
Dave St. Peter of the Minnesota Twins, Bruce Nicholson of Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans, Tom McGough Jr.of McGough Companies, Brad Schreier of Taylor
Corporation, Fritz Corrigan of Mosaic, Mark Zesbaugh of Allianz Life, Monica
Nassif of The Caldrea Company, Ron Turner of Ceridian Corporation, Janice Aune
of Onvoy, Chuck Bond of COKeM International, Mike Roos of KPMG, and Tim Nichols
of Cooperative Communities. These CEOs will golf with accompanying foursomes.
Students participating in BestPrep's programs will be stationed on the course to share their experiences with the CEOs and accompanying foursomes. All proceeds will benefit BestPrep’s business education and financial literacy programs.
The Stock Market Game Celebrates 15 Years at BestPrep
“MBV is a must for every high school business student.
BestPrep does a phenomenal job giving insight to anyone considering a career
in business.”
-Garrett McConnach, Wayzata High School
2004 InvestWrite Stock Market Game Winner, 2006 Minnesota Business Venture participant
The Stock Market Game (SMG), which offers students the opportunity to invest a virtual $100,000 in the stock market, is celebrating 15 years of being offered by BestPrep! Since coming to BestPrep in 1991, more than 240,000 students have participated in The SMG. BestPrep is continuing to expand The SMG to more schools, teachers, and students. This fall, BestPrep would like to offer free SMG teams.
Current SMG Teachers: As a current SMG teacher, BestPrep is offering five free
teams for every new teacher recruited. Please take this opportunity to tell
another teacher, friend, or co-worker about The Stock Market Game. To redeem
your free teams for recruiting a new teacher, please go to www.bestprep.org/smg
and fill out the short form.
New to The SMG: A teacher may participate for free if he/she has never participated
in The SMG or did not participate in the 2005-2006 school year. Limited funding
is available on a first come, first serve basis. Funding does not include training
costs. Go to www.bestprep.org/smg
to redeem your free teams.
Classroom Plus Focuses on Financial Literacy
“Oftentimes, in high school we are given a lot of unnecessary information,
so thank you for giving us something so helpful and inspiring. You have brought
out the spirit of entrepreneurship in all of us."
-Business Student, Eastview High School
BestPrep’s flagship program, Classroom Plus, coordinates more than 600
volunteer speakers from the world of business, labor and government each year
to share their expertise with over 116,000 students throughout the state of
Minnesota. Classroom Plus offers the opportunity for business professionals
and teachers to work together to educate students. Volunteers’ presentations
supplement classroom theory with real-life examples and role models. Classroom
Plus also introduces students to actual workplace environments through on-site
visits to local businesses. This is a free service to all teachers. Schedule
a speaker or tour today!
Financial Planning Week is October 2-8, 2006
BestPrep has paired with the Financial Planning Association to offer volunteer
financial planners to present in classrooms during Financial Planning Week,
October 2-8, 2006. The presentation given will be "Money Matters,"
created by a committee of Financial Planners last school year. Minnesota teachers
may choose the date and time that works best for them throughout the week (flexibility
helps). Students in every subject area can benefit from a financial planning
presentation! More information will follow as the week nears. Please e-mail
cpinfo@bestprep.org to reserve your
spot today!
New this year! A “Money Matters” presentation, created
by a committee of financial planner volunteers, will be available for speakers
to use. Classroom Plus hopes to send out over 50 financial planning speakers
this school year using the PowerPoint. This is an excellent way to give your
students insight into their financial futures!
To schedule a speaker, please visit www.bestprep.org or e-mail cpinfo@bestprep.org for more information.
Minnesota Business Venture:
A successful 25th year!
Two hundred
and ninety-one students from 100 high schools participated in Minnesota Business
Venture (MBV) this summer. In partnership with the G.R. Herberger College of
Business at St. Cloud State University and the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship
at St. John’s University, the students had the opportunity to learn from
180 volunteer business professionals.
BestPrep is already planning for MBV 2007! If you have questions or would like more information about MBV, please contact Andrea Hanson, MBV Program Director, ahanson@bestprep.org or 763-398-0090 x 226.
“The relationships I formed this week at MBV will last
a lifetime. Almost every speaker that came to camp was available for me to go
up, introduce myself, chat, get advice, business cards, and an invitation for
future interaction”
-Ian Cameron, Student at Mayo High School
Through TECH CORPS’ eMentors initiative, students are learning about the skills needed to be successful when they begin their careers. More than 1,000 students will be paired one-on-one with an adult email mentor this school year. Students and business volunteers exchange one email message per week for 7-10 weeks based on a series of prompts called Guiding Questions. Teachers include eMentors in their curriculum to reinforce topics, introduce the business world and expose students to a variety of careers. Following the email exchanges, students and mentors meet at a final celebration.
“eMentors was a great way to connect with a student without having
to leave my office. I answered questions about my career, industry, and educational
background. The program easily fit into my life, and turned out to be extremely
rewarding.”
- Carla Barker, 2006 eMentor, formerly with Northwestern Mutual
eMentors is popular with everyone:
Students communicate with a business professional who provide guidance and future
reference for college and/or employment.
Teachers see their students receive practical and up to date information while
establishing a meaningful relationship with an adult role model.
Business professionals find it is easy to participate, requiring a limited time
commitment and delivering a high impact.
Opportunities exist for both classrooms and businesses to get involved. Contact Bonnie Vagasky at 763-398-0090 x 227 or bvagasky@bestprep.org for more information.
Technology Integration Workshop is a Success
Thirty-four
teachers spent July 31st through August 3rd at the Carlson School of Management
on the University of Minnesota campus at the Technology Integration Workshop.
During the four-day staff development, teachers attended keynote presentations
on lesson design methods, 21st Century skills, and computer security. They also
were able to select breakout sessions on hot technology related topics including
Podcasting, Guiding Student Web Searches, Graphic Design Essentials, and more.
Ninety-four percent of the teacher participants responded that they were exposed
to at least one new software/technology they will use in their classroom. In
addition, each teacher was matched with a Business Partner, with whom they spent
a half-day job shadowing.
The enrollment in this year’s Workshop doubled from the previous year due to the encouragement of teacher teams to attend. Teams worked together creating lessons, sharing ideas and considering their school’s environment.
“This [workshop] pened my eyes to some of the possibilities of integrating
technology and inspires me to do more. I also learned important employer expectations
for new employees.”
-Marv Tjaden, Hayfield High School
Each attendee created a lesson plan to teach in the 2006-07 school year. The lessons are available for all educators to review and use at http://www.bestprep.org/TC/tctcell.html.
BestPrep is grateful to the Carlson School of Management for serving as host and providing each teacher a laptop to use throughout the Workshop. Their facilities and state of the art technology are terrific for such an event.
2006 Technology Integration Workshop Sponors Include:
3M Foundation, Allianz Life, Ameriprise Financial, Assurant, Inc., AT&T,
Best Buy Children’s Foundation, Boston Scientific, Cargill, EDS, Graco
Foundation, Foundation for Financial Planning, Imation Corporation, Medtronic
Foundation, John Oakes, The Pentair Foundation on behalf of Hoffman Enclosures,
Symantec, Wells Fargo Foundation, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and West-a
Thomson business
Plans are underway for next year’s Workshop. To get more information, contact Bonnie Vagasky at 763-398-0090 x 227 or bvagasky@bestprep.org.
Fall 2006 Volunteer Opportunities
Classroom Speakers needed! Share your area of expertise with
students. Work directly with teachers and students by giving classroom presentations
about your career or area of expertise. For more information, contact Angela
Laubmeier at 763-398-0090 x 230 or alaubmeier@bestprep.org.
Register online
to be a Classroom Plus volunteer
eMentors: Students are connected with an adult eMentor to help
link classroom learning to the world of work. Email messages are exchanged weekly
for 7-10 weeks. Each mentor commits 30 minutes a week on email and one face-to-face
meeting between mentor and mentee (either at the school or place of business).
BestPrep is seeking companies that can provide 20-30 eMentors to be matched
with one class. For more information, contact Bonnie Vagasky at 763-398-0090
x 227 or bvagasky@bestprep.org.
Register
online to be an eMentor volunteer
MBV Advisory Committee: The Advisory Committee meets monthly.
Consisting of educators and business people, the committee helps update and
create the MBV student curriculum, and helps recruit Resident Business Leaders
and students. For more information, contact Andrea Hanson at 763/398-0090 x
226 or ahanson@bestprep.org.
Contribute to BestPrep Through the United Way
Last year, BestPrep received $10,328 through United Way contributions! Many organizations offer the chance to donate to your favorite nonprofits through the United Way. If you make a contribution to BestPrep through the United Way, your funding will provide opportunities for economically disadvantaged students to use our financial literacy and career development programs at a low or free cost.
Donate to BestPrep Through United Way:
1. Fill out the United Way pledge form offered through your organization. Simply check the box that asks if you want to designate all or a portion of your gift to a specific agency, write in BestPrep, Brooklyn Park, MN and the amount, and check the release box which authorizes United Way to give BestPrep your name vs. “anonymous.” Some campaigns may require that you request a separate “designation card” from your campaign chair to select BestPrep as the recipient of your contribution.
2. Notify BestPrep! Send an email to Elizabeth Johnson at ejohnson@bestprep.org with your name, company/organization, address, phone number, the amount of your gift, and whether your gift to United Way is a lump sum payment or being paid on a monthly basis.
Thank you for your consideration of supporting BestPrep’s programs. For more information about how to make a donation to BestPrep, please visit www.bestprep.org or contact Elizabeth Johnson at 763-398-0090 x 225.