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SIFE team wins at regional competition
April 15, 2005 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—The Indiana University Kokomo Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team returned as winners after participating in the Saint Louis SIFE USA Regional Competition on April 7. IU Kokomo's team of 30 members was represented in St. Louis by Brian van Camp of Bunker Hill, Nate Stout of Tipton, and Kokomo residents Jessica Arnold, Andy Earl, Margaret Sasser, and Sabina Kedhi. After presenting a report of their community outreach projects to a judging panel of business leaders, the IU Kokomo team was named a SIFE USA Regional Champion in the overall competition. The team will compete against teams from the 21 regional tournaments at the SIFE USA National Exposition May 22–24 in Kansas City, Mo. The team also won finalist honors and $500 cash awards in four separate categories—the National Free Market Economics Competition sponsored by Aflac; the National Entrepreneurship Competition, sponsored by Sam's Club; the Business Ethics Competition, sponsored by Campbell's and Sealed Air; and the National Personal Financial Success Skills Competition, sponsored by the HSBC Education Trust and the Corporate, Investment Banking, and Markets Division of HSBC. SIFE is an international non-profit organization active on more than1,800 university campuses in 40-plus countries. SIFE teams create economic opportunities in their communities by organizing outreach projects that teach market economics, entrepreneurship, personal financial success skills, and business ethics. SIFE team projects are judged at competition on creativity, innovation, and effectiveness. “This year, we concentrated on fewer projects but each project was more in depth,” said SIFE President Brian van Camp. “This gave us greater opportunities to truly meet the needs of our communities. Our theme this year was 'Bridges,' and we feel we built bridges between individuals, between communities, and between groups.” During this academic year, the IU Kokomo SIFE team organized about 15 large-scale projects in the Kokomo area, including their showcase project: a 12-week Mini Model Economy workshop, presented to Howard Elementary fifth graders. The college students lead the youngsters in interactive lessons covering checking writing, budgeting, career choices, and other life skills. Andy Earl was one of the Mini Model projects team leaders. “This project really changed the lives of these fifth grade students and helped them build their own bridges to the future,” Earl said.
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