GBEDC Held Its Third Annual Reality Store Event

Greater Beloit Economic Development Corporation (GBEDC) announced today that it will held its third annual Reality Store at Beloit Memorial High School on Tuesday, March 6th. There were roughly 465 students participating in the event this year.

The GBEDC would like to thank all of the area businesses that participated in this year’s event and are able to make such a huge impact on the students including: First National Bank, Blackhawk Bank, Associated Bank, M & I Bank, United Way, Community Kids, City of Beloit Leisure Services, Alliant Energy, Culvers, Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce, Finley-Dencker Buick GMC, Budweiser Motors, Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, Girl Scouts, Shannon Ahrens Agency with American Family Insurance, and Farmers Insurance. We would also like to thank the wonderful volunteers in the community and the School District staff who helped during this event.

Shauna El-Amin, Business Retention and Expansion Specialist for the GBEDC said, “This event has opened the eyes of so many students. Since students are able to choose their careers, they get an idea of what their income will be once they get out there on their own. They are able to go through a real-life example of what their careers would pay and what bills they would have to pay within a month’s time. It gives them the opportunity to evaluate changes that they need to make to be successful.”

Todd Greco, Business Education Instructor at Beloit Memorial High School said, “I was extremely pleased with how well things went with our reality store the last two years, this year was just as great, if not better. I would like to thank the GBEDC for committing to this amazing experience for the students of our community. Learning takes place between students and business volunteers alike. This is a wonderful opportunity for business volunteers to interact with the outstanding students we have as well as see the great things taking place at Beloit Memorial High School. I am always proud of how well our students represent themselves, their school, and their community.”

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Business/Education Partnership Update

The 4th Annual Business Education Summit was held in August with over 250 teachers/administrators and community members participating in a 1/2 day event where the School District of Beloit's Strategic Plan was outlined and discussed. The 3rd Annual Connections Initiative was held for over 400 Freshman students in May and included Beloit Turner this year. The Lunch & Learn program continues with over 20 mentors volunteering one day a week with Freshman students at BMHS. The Mock Interview program became part of the curriculum at BMHS, all Juniors will have to go through the preparation session and a mock interview with a volunteer from the community. Eleven ACT tests were funded for students unable to afford the cost of the test, in collaboration with the Stateline Community Foundation. A pilot program is being initiated where BMHS Alum will be connected by Skype to students at the High School and Junior High Schools to learn about skill sets needed in the work world. A new initiative to match to match local business leaders with teachers in the School District began in the fall with over 8 matches in place currecntly where the teacher will visit the business and the business people will visit the teacher in their classroom. The 1st Reality Store was held at BMHS where students were given real life scenarios and had to manage their household budget. A partnering initiative with community-based organizations began to help students perform better and improve the graduation rate.

If you would like to get involved in any ofthese initiatives, please contact us.

3rd Annual Business & Education Summit

The 3rd Annual Business & Education Summit was held on August 24th, 2009. This year's Summit featured Phil Gardner from Michigan State University, Jim fisher from SCTEA, Shelly Stefanczyk from Junior Achievement and a viewing of a video featuring Dalton Sherman.

This year's Roundtable Discussions provide a brainstorming session to come up with projects that we would like to get involved in during the coming year.

Lunch & Learn Program
Lunch & Learn Program is looking for volunteers to spend their lunch hour with a BMHS freshmen student. Students are selected based on low academic grades, attendance, behavior and desire to learn. We hope to provide academic, social and emotional support for struggling students. For more information, or to take part in the program, click here.

From previous Summit's we have tackled the following projects:

Things we are doing now...
Continue the Connections Initiative event
Develop a Speakers Bureau Pool
Distribute GBEDC and Chamber newsletter to staff members and teachers
Develop a Greater Beloit Business & Education blog
Have businesses adopt a school
Form a taskforce to pursue mentoring program - Lunch & Learn
Have High School students perform mock interviews
Raise money for ACT and SAT testing

Things we are working on...
Develop a financial literacy program - Develop the Game of Life program
Have students visit area colleges and job center


Other ideas that came from the Summit...
Implement a Distinguished Gentleman Program
Expand apprenticeship and internship programs
Business Education Day where teachers visit businesses and business people visit schools
Develop a job shadowing program
Provide free college tuition to any student who graduates from BMHS


If you would like to get involved in these projects, please e-mail us at el-amins@ci.beloit.wi.us. Also, if you have any project suggestions, please let us know as well.