Year 9 Economics & Business Studies Market Day

It has been a very busy and interesting term for Year 9 Economics and Business Studies students. As part of the $20 Boss Challenge, each Year 9 Business and Economics student were provided $20 start-up capital from the Bendigo Bank Tugun Community Branch, to create and run their own business within a group setting. Students were extremely industrious creating products (goods or services) that addressed and identified issue/problem/gap in our local school community. It was an amazing opportunity for students to learn key aspects of producing and running a micro business. In particular, students were directly responsible for the formation, marketing, production and financial management of their own businesses. Furthermore, the businesses were required to be, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible.

On Wednesday 9 June, 16 student groups presented their ideas to the school in the Trade Training Centre, between lunch 1 and lunch 2. There was a fabulous array of yummy foods ranging from scrumptious chocolate brownies, delicious caramel slice, mouth-watering churros and amazing ice cream-creations to name a few. Additionally, students also staged a vintage, pre-loved bookstall; PBC 50^th birthday inspired bumper stickers as well as a gift range of succulent plants. The overall level of presentation and customer service was extremely high and this reflected in a healthy overall profit of $1,337.80. In particular, one group produced a massive $330 profit. Students are to be commended on their hard work and organisational skills. Overall, everyone had a great day! Thank you again to the Bendigo Bank Tugun Community Branch for supporting this program.

Gold Coast Changemaker Challenge

Earlier in the term Year 9 students from Civics and Business Studies had the opportunity to attend a one day workshop based on design thinking and innovation run by Young Change Agents. This workshop was the first round of the Gold Coast Changemaker Challenge and was a fantastic opportunity to encourage female students to consider STEM based subjects and career paths. Students worked in teams to identify problems in the world and created solutions to fix these problems. The groups then pitched their ideas to a panel of judges from PBC including Mr Griffin (Humanities HOD) and Mr Griffin-Matthews (Business teacher). The two highest scoring groups then had the opportunity to pitch their ideas alongside winning teams from other schools at the Gold Coast Changemaker Challenge Grand Final at Southern Cross University on 16 June. The two winning teams from PBC were Hydrangea House (Cass, Erin & Lauren) and Switchfit (Indigo, Kayla & Jaide), both teams pitched their business idea confidently to a panel of industry professionals and received great feedback. Switchfit created a prototype of an app that aimed to solve the problem of fast fashion through clothes swapping and Hydrangea House spoke about the problems LGBTQIA+ community faces. Their solution was to create a safe place for people to stay and receive support as they identified this is something that is currently lacking in our local community. Hydrangea House received a highly commended from the judges for their pitch. Congratulations to both teams.

Bethany McQueen