Our School Wide Event

One of the first tasks we were assigned in class was to create a school wide event with our group. My group included Charlotte, Amara, John, Phillip and I. We decided on the first day to use the Powder Puff idea and develop it into a Girls tournament and a Boys tournament flag football event on October 6th. This event will be fun for students and faculty because it allows them to spend a Sunday afternoon being active. Even though not every student will participate in a team, many others will come to watch this event. We wanted to use this date because it was early in the fall term, and the weather would still be nice enough to hold an event outside. Additionally, we wanted to choose a date separate from the ones other groups chose in order avoid competition. There will be teams of 6 with the possibility of substitutes, and they will play for 15 minutes with a running clock. In order to make the event move faster, we decided to split the football field in half and have two teams play on each side. One of the more difficult parts of planning this event, is being aware of the small details that must go into the event. For example, we knew that we had to get flags for the teams but were initially unsure where or how to get them. After talking to Mr. Hendrickson to get the event and use of the field approved, he suggested that we talk to Mr. Collins to get certain items we needed such as flags, the PA system and water jugs. After planning the initial details and rules of the event we needed to announce and promote the tournament as much as possible. In order to do this we plan on using lunch announcements, the firstclass email, talking to people around campus and in the dorms, and by putting up posters in popular areas like the Simon Student Center, Ford Hall and dorms. I believe that as soon as teams are organized, our group will have a successful turnout and it will be an enjoyable event for the students and faculty of Mercersburg. 

How to approach a somewhat, kinda, almost famous guy

I've had an idea for a while to try and bring someone who i personally think would excite the student body for once during a lecture. Instead of some older fellow that no one knows talking about god knows what. Why not bring someone in who students can relate to because he is not turning 60. Arya Toufanian is nearing 21 and has created a job that could potentially become his career. He was 16 when he wrote his fist book, Sex, Drugs, and High school. It was published while he was 16 because the publisher thought it would be a great idea to get a signing on someone so young. Before it was fully published his parents bought the book off of him and had it permanently destroyed. They were not fit to the idea of their name being on a book with such a name. With all the connections Arya had from his book deal he decided to move into the next level of his novel and start a company that focuses on what he believes is the key market for colleges, partying. His company, I'm Shmacked started small filming nightlife at colleges, and now he travels the country on a tour bus getting offers from fraternity's to just show up at their frat houses. I met Arya this summer in D.C where he used to attend school, G.W. with the success of his business he thought it best fit to drop out and see where this movement takes him. I didn't get too personal but he told me money was not a problem. He told me this was the first time he has been in D.C all year. He owns a house in Beverly Hills along with condos in other states. However, Arya is a cool dude, but contacting him, and trying to remind him who I was, was quite difficult. He gave me his number over the summer which was a drop phone because of all the people he meets. I texted him and told him how interested I was in having him come and do something he's never done before, lecture to younger students. Of all the things we talked about that night, luckily that was the one thing i remembered. He responded a couple hours later and remembered me somehow. He told me he was interested in coming to our school because thats an audience he's always wanted, high school students. Once I talk to administration i think theres a good chance this could pull through.

Welcome to the all new Springboard class "Entrepreneurship" at Mercersburg Academy.  This blog is designed to share with you all the fun things we do and achieve this year.  Our focus will be on teaching the aspects of owning and running a business through the creation of business plans and related projects.  The plans we envision will be actionable and fundable by the end of the year and a panel of experts will review them to see how successful they believe these businesses can be.  We will also have events that the class will have to organize, manage, and run.  This will help them better understand all the organization and work that goes into serving others with a product.  In many ways this is like Shark Tank, and The Apprentice rolled into one in a supportive environment.  Since our focus will be student based, Mr. Jacklin and I are excited to see what the students will create!  Students and the teachers will update this blog weekly and as events occur.  Summer reading done!  Now lets create.