For some of the students in Mrs. Rachel Glatman’s Economics class, the midterm was just another project. The students were asked to create an advertisement for a business and present it to the class in a two-minute video.
For Sarah O’Lena, though, this project was so much more. More creativity, more freedom, and more of what Sarah already loves.
“It was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever done,” said Sarah, a senior at Clyde-Savannah Sr. High School whose career plans include pursuing a marketing degree.
The project was modeled after the popular TV show Shark Tank. The students each wrote a business plan for their idea, then created a video to persuade potential customers.
“We had a lot of creative liberties we could take,” Sarah said. Her business idea is GoGo Beauty, an on-demand beauty service with professionals who will come to the client’s house to do hair and makeup, and even dress them.
Sarah created her video using the app Capcut, presenting her business idea with enthusiasm and the kind of fast-talking, quick cuts that engage the viewer right away. With Sarah’s voice narrating, the video included photos, video, and animations meant to grab the attention of her audience from the jump.
“I did learn a lot about the process of making advertisements and the psychology behind them,” Sarah said.
On the day of her presentation, the Economics class was visited by “surprise sharks,” similar to the show. Superintendent Mr. Mike Hayden and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Services, Mrs. Holly Drahms sat in on the presentations.
They were so impressed with Sarah’s work that she was invited to the April Board of Education meeting to share her project with the school board.
“Sarah’s project really stood out,” said Superintendent Hayden. “It really demonstrates her innate skill set. She’s on a great path to realizing some of her goals.”
Mrs. Glatman created the project to give students real-world skills. Many of them have ambitions to start their own businesses, she said. This gave them the opportunity to create a business plan and practice communicating their plans and ideas.
“The whole experience with their commercials was awesome,” Mrs. Glatman said. “It was a reminder that we want to keep the training wheels on for now with people that we’re comfortable with before [students] get out in the world.”
She gave students the option to be serious in their advertisements or make them a little more fun. Sarah definitely took the latter approach.
“There were a lot of creative liberties we could take,” Sarah said. “It wasn’t a rigid structure. It was free–so much freedom.” For Sarah, the mix of creative freedom with her passion for marketing was a perfect fit.
Throughout the process, Sarah also demonstrated several of Clyde-Savannah’s Eagle Way traits (Excellence, Attitude, Growth, Leadership, and Empathy).
In going above and beyond, Sarah’s project showed Excellence, while her excitement for the project gave her a great Attitude. She showed Growth by learning more about marketing and psychology, Leadership by presenting her idea with professionalism, and Empathy by creating a business idea meant to serve others.
This project was merely a foretaste of what Sarah hopes to pursue as a career. In the future, Sarah hopes to attend Long Island University or the New York Institute of Technology, where she plans to study marketing and psychology.
Great job, Sarah!
