The Winning Team!

The Advanced Placement Statisics class won the Classroom of the Future statewide K-12 business plan competition. Park Center competed with more than 40 classrooms and 700 students from Minnesota public and private schools for this honor.

The students in the AP Statistic class are: Babatunde Awoyinka, Stephanie Ball, Jordan Browen, Chelsie Carlson, Albert Dao, Michael Egan, Stefani Egnell, Matthew Herlofsky, Kathleen Horner, Kerry Landin, Stacy Landin, Rebecca Leinum, Danielle Marohnic, Lawrence Mercado, Kimberly Miller, Brandon Montgomery, Brittany Rawson, David Rode, Alexander Scharber, Jordan Schmaltz, Matthew Sexton, Nicole Steinkamp, Thinh Vo, Ian Williams, and Mee Xiong.

They were recognized at the TIES 2006 Education Technology Conference in Minneapolis on Monday, December 4. The AP Statistics class will be receiving integrated Classroom of the Future technologies such as a Smart Board, a document camera, a tablet PC, a sound system and a ceiling projector that are valued at $15,000. All this equipment will be installed into their classroom. The AP Stats teacher, Mr. Ed Dillon, also teaches 4 other classes in the room that will benefit from the work of these ambitious students.

The plan that they came up with was to create a retail store called The Pirate Outfitters that sold the apparel needs for school spirit and for activities and sports. Items such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, shorts, jackets, baseball and stocking caps, mittens and scarves are being considered. Other merchandise that will be sold there are: green and gold beads, eye patches, flags, and other school spirit items. School supplies such as folders, notebooks, pencils, etc. are other products to be made available at The Pirate Outfitters. As an added bonus, this business will provide jobs and volunteering opportunities for students.

The business plan was just an idea in the start, but later the group decided that it would be great to transform the plan into a real business. The AP Statistics class decided to try to develop the business at the southwest corner of Park Center where an old gas station had been out of business for three years.

The AP Statistic class had done some research on the gas station, and they found out that the current owner of this gas station had filed for bankruptcy. They decided to have a conversation with the owner about the gas station. The owner gave the class permission to inspect the building to see if it fits the needs of the project. Besides using the gas station building, the group discovered they will need business permits. Some of the permits that are needed are: the tenant improvement permit, which allows them to make improvements to the property; the mechanical permit allows the business to contain heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; the plumbing permit allows the use of water and plumbing systems through out the building; the sewer and water permit allows them to have sewer and water accessibility for the property; and finally a pre-packaged food license, which allows The Pirate Outfitters to sell pre-packaged candy bars, chips, cookies, sodas, and similar goods.

This gas station is the planned location of The Pirate Outfitters because it’s near Park Center, which makes it easier for students and staff to buy Park Center supplies. It also benefits our school and surrounding businesses by cleaning up and vitalizing an eyesore. The AP Stats class will need to recruit volunteers including students, parents with construction expertise, PC teachers to perform a quick overhaul of the building, and student volunteer workers to work at the store, in order to get the business going. They will need to create a board of directors that will decide on how to spend the money the company makes.

In order to get money for starting the business will ask a large group of people to invest a small amount in the venture. For example, they would like about 1,000 people to loan them $100.00 each. The “micro-loans”, legally written down, will be paid back at market interest rates. They also accept donations. There have been several organizations that have already offered donations of more than $3,000.00 total.

Due to some adjustments like removing underground gas tanks and repaving the parking lot, The Pirate Outfitters will be opening in the springtime of 2007. The business hours will be on Monday through Thursday from 2pm until 8pm, Friday from 2 - 6pm, and Saturday from 10am until 5pm, so start saving up your money to help Park Center with the business. The AP Stats class is hoping to do business with you this spring.