Students make good company

Ed Merrison
YEAR 10 and 11 students from Upwey High School took out second place for overall best company at the Young Achievement Australia (YAA) business expo earlier this month.
Calling themselves Yazzar, the Upwey students scored well in all areas with their innovative wooden coasters at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on Saturday, 27 August.
Shire of Yarra Ranges mayor David Hodgett congratulated the students on their success.
“They have not only come up with a useful and environmentally friendly product, they have gained success in a challenging and competitive environment,” said Cr Hodgett.
The students also took out third place for merchandising and second place for marketing.
The student company recently launched its timber coasters in front of 30 family and friends, school staff, local business people, Shire of Yarra Ranges mayor David Hodgett and shire staff. The coasters are made from recycled wood.
The YAA program, sponsored by the Shire of Yarra Ranges, is run by Young Achievement Australia.
It is a nongovernment, notforprofit organisation that runs a business skills program to help prepare young people for the transition from studies to work in a positive and supportive environment. “The program is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain some understanding on how to build a successful business.
“I hope Yazzar’s success will encourage other young people to be interested in the YAA program,” said Cr Hodgett. Participating students experience all aspects of a small business including selecting a name, establishing a management structure, selling shares to raise capital, writing a business plan and code of ethics, designing and manufacturing a product and liquidating at the end of the program, hopefully returning a dividend to their share holders.
Lucy Simons was managing director of the Yazzar group and said the project would help in the future if any of the students wanted to become a business person.
“We learned about the different stages a business has to go through, from choosing a product and materials to thinking about how to market and sell the product,” Ms Simons said.
“One day I want to have my own business, have my own beauty line and salon. I’ll be my own boss and I’ll be in charge,” she said.
Even so, Ms Simons enjoyed the teambased premise of the YAA project.
“I like working in a team. You have the support of everyone and it’s quicker,” she said.
The students of Upwey High School were also proud of representing their region, which was partly responsible for the choice of product.
“We started off with corkbacked coasters, but we wanted something that would complement our area, so we chose wood and we’d just had a heap of trees cut down at the back of my house,” Ms Simons said.
Young Achievement Australia runs the business skills program once a year.
Industries and businesses interested in sponsoring a school to run the program can contact Young Achievement Australia on 9650 2923 or visit www.yaa.org.au.
Any local community members interested can also contact the shire’s coordinating mentor Belinda Chalmers at the council’s youth services department on 9294 6716.