Middle- and High-School Students from NYC Get the Smith Experience

Members of New York City's Students for Educational Opportunity (SEO) organization, visited the Smith School, April 23-24.

"I just like business, especially marketing, said Larissa Worrell, 11th-grader at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn. I learned about business, advertising, and competition."

Thirty-seven eighth- and 11th- graders from New York City visited the Smith School as part of an initiative to increase minority representation in Smiths undergraduate program. The students, who are part of NYCs Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) organization, came to the Smith School during their spring break week (April 23-24).

Students involved in the SEO after-school program have been coming to the University of Maryland for the past five years, but this is the first year that they visited the Smith School, specifically.

"Some of our students have an interest in business and finance, and in entrepreneurship, said Jennifer Walper, associate director of the mentoring and volunteer program of SEO. We hope this experience at the Smith School will help them develop some early business savvy."

The goal of the event is to bring together talented high-school students and undergraduate-business students to facilitate networking and mentoring among our students, encourage successful application to college, and provide opportunities to experience college-type work, said Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies Pat Cleveland.

Members of the "Gateway to the Future" team work on their business plan.

A highlight of the visit was a lecture by Finance Department Chair Lemma Senbet, holder of the William E. Mayer Chair in Finance. Senbet is internationally recognized for his widely cited contributions to corporate and international finance. He spoke to the students on his "American dream" and shared with them some of his work on developing stock markets in emerging countries.

Anne Moultrie, assistant dean of communications at Smith; Christopher Greer 88, partner, Accenture; and Kenyon Rogers 00, project lead/e-commerce, Marriott Corp. also addressed the students and served as judges in a business plan competition.

The competition was a way for the students to put to use all of the information they learned throughout their visit. Students were broken up into seven teams and asked to develop a socially responsible business to solve a need or meet a demand in their community. Each team was assigned a Smith School student mentor and asked to provide specific information about their business, including a business name, mission statement, list of values, and organizational structure in an oral presentation.

Most of the business plans were for community centers to help underprivileged children and teens deal with serious issues like teen pregnancy, drugs, gangs, prostitution, and neglect. The plan selected as the most entrepreneurial focused on getting jobs for inner-city teenagers. Gateway to the Future would offer resume workshops, etiquette lessons, tutoring services, and dress-for-success tips. The program would start with 200 kids and help them maintain a 2.5 GPA or higher. Companies hiring participants would be expected to make donations to support the program. The mentors for this group were Lady DJeanne Gonzalez, senior, and Kia Wilson, junior.

The second place team was PTS (Pregnancy Teen Support) Center. Other teams included: Safe Horizon, B.H. (Bronx-Harlem) Help Community Center, The Jay Foundation, GOAL, and The Inner Circle.

"It was great to see some of the students blossom right in front of our eyes as they realized the rewards, challenges, and power of sharing their ideas in a public setting," said Moultrie.

Amaury Alcantara, eighth-grader at IS (Intermediate School) 318 in the Bronx, said, "I learned more about business and how to create a business. Now I'm more interested in business."

"This trip helped me experience what college is like," said Gabrielle Parker, 11th-grader at the High School for Leadership and Public Service in Manhattan. At school, she's a member of the Math Club and Dance Club. She's thinking about a career in law or family studies.

Although Darnelle Delva, 11th-grader at the Brooklyn Technical High School, is more interested in pursuing a career in the sciences or health, she still found the trip to Smith beneficial. I learned about campus life, how it is, and how big it is," she said.