High School Students from Seven Countries Compete for Entrepreneurship ‘World Cup’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2004
CONTACT: Joe Wills
530-898-4143
High School Students from Seven Countries
Compete for Entrepreneurship ‘World Cup’
Entrepreneurship projects from around the world will be judged today in San Francisco in the second annual Global SAGE World Cup, an event originated and coordinated by California State University, Chico faculty and students.
Teams of high school students from China, South Africa, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Tajikistan and the United States will be presenting their accomplishments at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel in three rounds of competition. The champion will be announced at the “Pathways to Better Futures” awards banquet from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the hotel’s Poolside Pavilion.
SAGE is an acronym for Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship. It is a new educational program that promotes entrepreneurship and community service by linking university students to local high school students. After completing projects during the year, each high school SAGE team competes against other high schools in their nation to determine their country’s SAGE champion.
SAGE founder and director, Curt DeBerg, is a business professor at CSU, Chico. “This program promotes entrepreneurship and community service by linking university students from across the world to high schools in their area,” DeBerg said. “Each high school SAGE team is placed into a competitive league, much like athletic events.”
One team competing in the SAGE event is Central Philippines High School from the island of Panay. The team will explain their work with an ethnic minority group-the Aetas-in the province of Iloilo. They helped the women identify and market specialty handicrafts and aided Aeta men to produce cooking stoves that are 70 percent more efficient than the stoves they used previously.
Sacramento High School of Business will be the SAGE team representing the United States, under the direction of CSU, Chico business students who are part of the student organization Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). The Sacramento students presented their entrepreneurship projects in a statewide competition in Chico on March 27 and topped a field of 16 high schools.
According to CSU, Chico student and SIFE member Charles Dever, the Sac High students made a big impact on student life in their school. “This team did some amazing work. For example, the students started the SAGE Café, which provides food service to fans attending basketball games. The café taught the students how to start and run a business.” One of the Sacramento students, junior Linda Vu, added, “Being part of this year’s SAGE competition has opened my eyes to the numerous opportunities the business world has to offer, and also has boosted my confidence. In addition, I have learned so much, such as the importance of teamwork and of reaching out to my community.”
Many business leaders will help judge the SAGE competition, including representatives from Walgreen’s, Petco, Chevron/Texaco, Allstate Foundation, State Farm, Cisco Systems, Office Depot, KPMG, Stonesfair Management Corporation, Pepsi Bottling Group, Merrill Lynch and E & J Gallo Winery.
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