Garden City’s Adelphi University has given high schoolers, who are aspiring business professionals, the chance to get an early taste of their potentially cut-throat futures.
The Adelphi Apprentice Challenge, mirrored after the Donald Trump-helmed television program The Apprentice, is a multi–high school competition that enables students to experience the rigors of real-life marketing specialists in a legitimate, boardroom-style environment. According to Brian Rothschild, Assistant Dean of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business and emcee for the event, it’s a great way for pupils with a business leaning to get their toes wet in the industry without the threat of being subjected to Trump’s infamous catchphrase: “You’re fired!”
“Students come here and get put on teams with students from different schools, all of whom they have not had access to prior to today. This enables them to be creative and to learn how to work in teams, which they will do once they get into college and in life,” he said. “They are given a case study—in this case, a product for a company—for which they must create a marketing plan within one hour, and present that plan to a panel of judges.”
The Adelphi Apprentice Challenge began in 2006. This year, 265 students from 21 high schools in the tristate area participated. The daylong event began with a marketing presentation by an Adelphi professor, followed by the introduction of the 15 judge panel, all of whom came from high-level positions within the business field. From there, the hastily assembled teams of students—all complete strangers to one another—were given one hour to brainstorm and come up with a viable marketing plan for a company’s product. In this case, Sol Republic Bluetooth wireless headphones, which are considered a hot commodity in the music scene.
“It’s a true boardroom experience, and it offers them the chance to see what it is like to be out there in the real world, making presentations to senior-level executives,” said Rothschild. “It either affirms their desire to get into the business and marketing field or it can show them that the field really isn’t for them after all. Plus, it looks great on a résumé.”
Each team has a designated “rival” team against which they must compete head-to-head. The winning team then progresses onward in the tournament-style competition, until—as a popular movie once decreed—there can only be one, Rothschild said. Each team is supplied with a laptop computer connected to a network printer, dry erase board, index cards, tape, pens and so on. The marketing skills, however, have to be supplied by the students themselves.
Kristen Moldovan, a junior at Massapequa High School, was designated the project manager of her team. She is interested in pursuing a career in the finance field, and said that the idea of learning how to pool resources with a team and develop a winning strategy was an exciting concept to her and a great asset to possess once she gets out into both college and the real world. While her team initially had a few issues with cohesion, Moldovan said that it wasn’t long before they were firing on all cylinders, laying down a great sales plan.
“At first nobody wanted to share their ideas. Two of the type-A personalities on the team started butting heads at first, but we smoothed that out and we all started introducing ourselves, and now we’re just trying to throw everything together and make compromises,” she said. “We’re definitely focusing on social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, that’s going to be the main part of our campaign.”
Dionnee Harper, vice president of marketing for Atlantic Records, is also a returning judge for the competition. She said that the Apprentice Challenge gives kids today a valuable opportunity that didn’t exist when she was in school.
“This is a nice way to give back to the students and share some of the things I’ve learned over the years,” Harper said. “It also gives me the chance to see what fresh ideas and what talented young people are out there, waiting to jump into the business and marketing field feet first.”
The reasoning behind the Adelphi Apprentice Challenge, Rothschild noted, is to give students a chance to see the Adelphi campus and experience the flavor of the university, should they have aspirations of attending once they graduate. In addition, the imparting of valuable life lessons is also a primary goal, and the Apprentice Challenge has proven so effective in that regard that the event has steadily increased in size each and every year.
“The Challenge has been a huge success. Every year we put out the word and any school that wishes to attend is welcome,” said Rothschild. “The high school students love it to the point that the ones that come here as freshmen and sophomores will beg their teachers to come again as juniors and seniors. It’s up the individual schools and how many they’re allowed to bring, but the students who attend always get excited about returning the following year.”
