For the second consecutive year, the entrepreneurial team from Georges Vanier Secondary School is being recognized as the best in Canada and will move on to international competition.
After squashing Canadian teams from Toronto and Vancouver in the Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) national finals on Saturday, May 29, the Vanier team now has its sights set on the SAGE World Cup. The international finals will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, but the young business dynamos need to raise about $18,000 to get to the competition in time for the July 23 start date."We haven't had any good news yet, but we are still working," said Gloria Yoon, SAGE leader and business studies teacher at Vanier. "We are going (to South Africa) but we just don't know how yet."The journey to the SAGE World Cup began last September with Yoon and a group of students building on last year's success at the international competition in Brazil, where the team won awards in two categories.Returning from last year's team in Gajan Jegatheeswaran, a Grade 12 student who is proud of the work he has done in his community and confident of the entire SAGE team."I think we will make it into the Top 4. We nailed every criteria down and our presentation and PowerPoint is more than perfect. We will make it into the Top 4, no doubt about that," said Jegatheeswaran.The competition is essentially an evaluation of the business ventures that the SAGE team has created in their school and their community over the past year. Each group is expected to make a presentation on business ventures and charitable ventures they spearheaded. At Vanier, a handful of students who make the core of the team were able to run 30 ventures this year. When efforts from other students at the school are taken into account, the total volunteer time spent adds up to 4,500 hours."In all of our events we try to get as many people involved as possible so we can raise awareness, especially in the eco initiatives," said Sarosh Sarkari, Grade 12 student and vice-president of Eco Ventures on the team.He was deeply involved in social consciousness projects at the school and feels the SAGE team has made a lasting impact. According to his statistics, SAGE events like a fashion show using entirely recyclable materials averaged 90 per cent student participation. He is working on a plan to rejuvenate the school's under-maintained courtyard so that students can have their commencement ceremony there at the end of the year.If they keep up the good work, the Vanier team should do well in the SAGE World Cup, but many of the sponsors that helped finance their trip last year aren't able to help on such short notice.In any case, Yoon is proud of the team and thinks the experience so far has been worthwhile in itself. "They are actually trying to make changes in the world," she said. "It may be on a smaller scale, but they are doing that."The SAGE team was also recently recognized by the Toronto District School Board and given the 2010 Award of Excellence.