Eleven MMI Preparatory School students received a scholarship to attend Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW), which will be held later this summer on the campuses of Lycoming College or Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week is a weeklong economic education program that offers students an inside look at the private enterprise system and the way the free market functions.
Morgan Allen, Julie Amentler, Kimberly Amentler, Louis DeAngelo, Natalie Graham, Morgan Hosier, Katherine Lewandowski, Ryan McNelis, Hiba Muhammad, Samantha Sparich, and Ella Urosevich will attend the program across one of the four weeks between July 7 and August 10.
Pennsylvania teachers and counselors recommend the candidates who are then reviewed by the PFEW staff. Admission is based on motivation to learn that is demonstrated through essays submitted by the applicants. Those accepted are awarded scholarships, which cover all program costs, excluding a nominal registration fee and transportation to and from Williamsport. When students arrive for their one-week session in July or August, they are housed on the campus in dormitories where they experience a taste of college life.
During the week, students form companies that compete against other student companies for the equivalent of three years using a college level simulation. Business volunteers serve as Company Advisors who mentor the students as they face many of the same decisions real executives confront every day. The companies compete against each other in the areas of management skill, return on net assets, a marketing and advertising campaign, and a presentation to stockholders. Company Advisors do not make decisions for their team but suggest available options and share their own experiences and challenges. Scholarship winners learn the value of teamwork, communication, cooperation, and leadership.
Dozens of world-class speakers present seminars and discussions covering topics like the relationships of business with labor, government, and consumers. The students also hear talks about business ethics, management and leadership skills, the economic system future, the global marketplace, money and banking, business operations, careers in business, marketable skills, and much more.
Totally funded, taught, and staffed by the Pennsylvania business community, PFEW is supported by eight manufacturer’s associations, more than 100 chambers of commerce, and more than 800 companies. Now in its 40th year of operation, PFEW’s governing body is the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information about PFEW, please contact the Foundation at (814) 833-9576 or visit www.pfew.org.
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