High school students interested in pursuing a business career will be introduced to that world on Friday at the Dhillon School of Business at the University of Lethbridge.
The Student Professional Development Day is described as being an immersive day of education for students in grades nine to 12 who plan on going into a post-secondary business program. Manager of Community Partnerships and Student Engagement Heather Harty says the one-day program’s itinerary includes keynote speaker Richard Lee-Thai, breakout groups and university business lectures.
“Their first business lecture will be on learning about the fundamental principles of business and the second one in the afternoon is a simulation where they’re going to act as the CEO of a business,” Harty says. “They’re gonna be competing in a simulation, making decisions in the market, choosing the price of their product, promotion, what they’re selling, and they’re going to win some fun prizes out of that.”
She says the idea behind the development day is to give the students a chance to be immersed in all things business, introduce them to the university and help them explore a business career path. Throughout the day participating high school students will have a chance to connect with students enrolled in the business school, where they can ask questions and learn about what it is like to be a student at the post-secondary institution.
“That exposure to business through the first lecture session and the simulation, kind of showing them what business is all about, along with what a university lecture might look like and maybe help them envision themselves as a future potential student.”
The Dhillon School has two campuses, one at the U of L in Lethbridge and one in Calgary, Harty says a large market for the Lethbridge-based campus is students who have recently graduated from high school and were going directly from high school to university. However, Harty adds there are many paths that students take to go to University.
Forty students will take part in the event that is sponsored by the CPA Education Foundation. The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the University.
