By Suzette Lovely, ED.D. Superintendent Carlsbad Unified School District Where can students learn to write a business plan, create a product line, attend a trade show to market the product, and get feedback from business professionals about their work?  At Carlsbad High School, in a program called Virtual Experience – of course. The program, led by teacher Carol King, gives students hands-on experience on how to run a business. Carlsbags is one of CHS’s virtual student-run companies. According to student Lucas Gladstein, CEO of Carlsbags, the concept arose from challenges presented by the ban on plastic bags in neighboring Encinitas and Solana Beach.  “We designed three prototypes — a shopping bag, a drawstring bag, and a backpack, all eco-friendly 100% organic cotton — and the Design and Fashion class created them for us,” shared Lucas. His team, including Samantha Gee, CFO; Morgan Lorenet, VP of Marketing and Sales; and Trent Williams, Director of Graphics and IT; also created a business plan, a trade floor booth, a sales and marketing plan, and an “elevator pitch” for Carlsbags. Local business owners take a look at the students’ companies and give them advice on their marketing plan, financials, etc. Lucas was fortunate that his father, Marcus Gladstein of Foxtrot Software in Leucadia provided invaluable advice and support.

The team has competed in trade shows in Long Beach, Bakersfield, and San Francisco. During the business plan presentation — the main event of the competition — judges evaluate students on the viability of their financials as well as their presentation skills. Judges are especially interested in seeing how well students can speak extemporaneously and engage in question and answer sessions.

At the Bakersfield competition, Carlsbags took 9th place in the state for its business plan and 7th place for the professionalism of its sales booth.

Dr. Ed Weis, the dean of the School of Business at Mercy College in Westchester County, NY, served on the panel of judges at the Bakersfield VE conference. He was so impressed by Lucas Gladstein’s performance that he invited Lucas and his father to an invitational recruitment weekend for the college’s Business Honors Program. After the competition, Dr. Weiss wrote to Lucas, “I enjoyed meeting you at the VE competition.  I am very impressed with your professionalism. You look, act, and speak like a leader. In fact, you were the single most impressive student, in my opinion, at the entire VE event.”

Lucas and his dad were flown to New York to see the campus and meet several professors, all of whom had extensive experience as business leaders. At the end of the weekend Lucas was offered the college’s highest scholarship. He will be attending Mercy College’s Business School in the fall.

According to the VE website, “With an emphasis on college and career readiness, VE is an in-school, live, global business simulation that offers students a competitive edge through project-based, collaborative learning and the development of 21st-century skills in entrepreneurship, problem solving, communication, personal finance and technology.”

Lucas has worked to spread the word around campus about the value of the VE program. He says, “Virtual Enterprise has shown me that there are opportunities in the business world available to high school students to get real world experience.”