St George’s College cops 2024 JACE Programme
Published:Friday | October 18, 2024 | 12:09 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
ST GEORGE’S College’s GreenCycle Solutions took first place in the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) Programme, spearheaded by Junior Achievement Jamaica, in their bid to educate students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programmes.
deCarteret College’s TeacherZ Pet copped second place, while Cross Keys High School’s AloemericFace Scrub placed third. Subsequent to submitting a pitch video and a company final report to Junior Achievement (JA) Americas, St George’s College and deCarteret College were selected to represent Jamaica at the Company of the Year Competition that will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in December.
“As a partnership company formed by students from St George’s College, our team, GreenCycle Solutions, has made significant strides, emerging as the regional winners of the competition. This achievement not only fills us with pride, but also with a deep sense of responsibility as we have been chosen to represent our country on the national stage,” said Joshua Daley, marketing manager for GreenCycle Solutions.
“We are immensely grateful to everyone who has supported us on this journey, from mentors and teachers to family and friends, whose encouragement has been our backbone. As we prepare to represent our nation at the international level in Montevideo, Uruguay, we remain committed to our mission of advancing sustainability. Our mantra, ‘Elevating sustainability, one bin at a time’, continues to inspire us as we work towards a greener, more environmentally conscious future,” he added.
Approximately 90 high schools were officially registered for the programme in the 2023-24 academic year. The top three schools were selected based on an accumulated grade assigned to each school by assessing competition participation, submission of their final reports, and the completion of the Entrepreneurship Skills Pass Examination.
According to Shian Golaub, programme manager for the JACE Programme, the competitions included ‘Marketing Maven’, where students are tasked with producing a commercial for their businesses and a pitch competition, held in each region across Jamaica during National Careers Week.
“The students would have also been required to submit a final report, which essentially is the companies’ completed business plans/inclusive of an executive summary, business description, marketing analysis, organisation and management, detailed description of their product or service, marketing and sales strategy, operational plan and financial plan,” Golaub said.
To officially complete the programme, students must sit an Entrepreneurship Skills Pass examination. The Entrepreneurial Skills Pass is an international certification of skills and experiences for businesses eager to hire students with an entrepreneurial mindset. It focuses on further reimagining the youth learning experience and can serve as inspiration for educators, parents, policymakers, and employers.
“The JACE competition was long and arduous, but with perseverance, my teammates and I were able to persevere and were rewarded with a second-place finish in the national competition. We are ecstatic about the prospect of representing our country in Uruguay and as such, we harbour high hopes of winning this regional competition,” said Octavion Casell of deCarteret College.
“As the marketing director of TeacherZ Pet, I am especially excited for this opportunity, as it opens new doors for our brand. Our company’s journey on the JACE Programme has been exceptional, building a rock-solid foundation and network to build not just TeacherZ Pet as a business, but our personal entrepreneurial skills,” added Gabrielle Senior.
The JA Americas Company of the Year Competition is an annual event organised by Junior Achievement (JA) Americas, where top student companies from across Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean come together to compete. These student-led companies have been created as part of Junior Achievement’s entrepreneurship programmes, such as JACE.
The competition allows students to showcase their business ideas, entrepreneurial skills, and achievements in front of an international audience.