Week 26 - February 22-27

Preparing for the Big Night!

The efforts of the class have been thrown into our class business, 'A Grand Gala: CEOnopoly Style' all week long. Whether planning at our home base, or spending the day decorating, we all have been vigorously working to make this gala a success!

CEO Heather Gosebrink and CFO David Rauckman present to the class in the most crucial part of any event: preparation.

The girls on the decorating committee find that hanging a board piece right takes a lot longer than they thought!

Emma Gregowicz & Paige Montgomery work together to make centerpieces.

The coordinated efforts of many were required to successfully hang a piece.

Everyone's Ready!

Before the event, every student assembles in their spot - ready for an exciting and productive night!

The friendly faces of Aliyah Gillespie, Emma Gregowicz, and Melony Allen waited to sign in guests at the reservation table.

Paige Montgomery and Erik Faulkner staked out at the raffle tickets - which raised a whopping $545 for us!

Stephen Toenjes & Alan Plantz were the friendly young men who opened doors for the guests.

Ever talented, Sandy Amorado, played a beautiful piece on the piano to welcome guests as they arrived.

Networking Hour

One of the best parts of this business is the opportunity it gave us to meet up with our friends, investors, and speakers we've met with throughout the year. It was amazing to see how many came back to support us and it was great getting acquainted with new people too!

Always there for Belleville CEO, Craig Lindvahl and his wife pose with student, Sandy Amorado.

Forever supporting our class, Precision Practice Management's Renae Eichholz, not only purchased the prestigious 'Boardwalk' spot, but also brought a whole table!

The room was bustling with excitement as everybody was 'mingling'.

Alan Plantz poses with the interim Executive Director and sponsor on our board, Cheryl Mitchell.

The Big Presentation

Craig Lindvahl made a guest appearance and in his humorous and loving way proved to be one of the highlights of the evening!

A Testament to the Program

CEO students Melony Allen and David Rauckman give testament to the wonders CEO has brought them.

Dinner!

Almost everyone was pleased with our meal of chicken marsalla, truffel whipped potatoes, garden vegetable medley, and a dessert of Goey Butter Cake.

Dancing!

When the lights were dimmed and the music started, the dance floor filled with guests as everyone had a chance to show off their dancing skills.

Althoff students Stephen Toenjes and Heather Gosebrink take a spin around the dance floor in one of several slow dances.

Height is not a factor in this dance!

And Dueling Pianos!

And for the main event, 'Spanky Entertainment's Dueling Pianos' - who took song requests and played skillfully against each other.

The Crucial Sponsors

And to give a final thanks to all of our sponsors, who through their generous contributions, our gala was made possible.

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Pewter Sponsors

And finally, our 'Token Sponsors', who made our raffle possible:

Amanda Stern
Chipotle
Taco Bell
Joe Voss
Amy Edgar
Dan Polites
Hollywood Tan
Brian & Laurie Brown
Qdoba
Nanny Lou's
Mariachi's
Fischer's
The Abbey
Tan Co.

A Final Thank You!

And to conclude this newsletter, the Belleville CEO class would like to thank the many, many people who have made this event - and our program - possible.

To the guests, who purchased tickets and came to our Gala

To the sponsors on our board, who have enabled us to pursue our own businesses and enrich ourselves by following our dreams

To our facilitator, Mrs. Siebers, who shows up every day to support and encourage our class on this endeavour

To Craig Lindvahl, for both speaking at our event and for giving us some much needed advice along the way

To the board, who meet monthly and help our class run smoothly

To all of our speakers, who have taught us how to run a business this year

To our mentors, who have given their time to personally help us individually

To our 'home bases': Allsup, Precision Practice Management, and Barcom Security, who have allowed us to spend hours in their facilities planning this event

To the investors, without their generous contributions and belief in our community, none of us would even be here!

To Mr. Michael Crotty, who has graciously printed out the entire board for this event

To Mr. Thad Payne, Ms. Leah Kreuger, and the St. Clair Country Club Staff, who have been so kind and accomodating with this event

To the parents of CEO Students, who give us support and enable us to be in this program

To those who were not able to come, but still supported our class through financial backing and donations

And finally, to my class, who have showed me the true meaning of being apart of a team

On behalf of Belleville CEO,

Jessica Stern

"I am quite relieved we were able to pull the gala off! I'm proud of the class! It was a fun night, but now we can focus on our personal businesses. I can't wait to see what my other classmates come up with in these next months."

-Sandy Amorado

"I could not be prouder about our class business! It took so much teamwork and motivation to make it successful, but we did it! Everyone had such a fun night dancing to the dueling pianos!"

-Heather Gosebrink

"The Grand Gala was so much fun! It was awesome getting to be with everyone outside of class and break out some moves on the dance floor. "

-Aliyah Gillespie

"I can't believe the gala turned out as well as it did. This is only our first year! We truly set a strong foundation for the future Bellevilleceo class businesses"

-Melony Allen

"The gala was an excellent representation of the capabilities of the Belleville CEO class."

-David Rauckman

"I can't believe we actually did it. Thank goodness it's over."

-Jessica Stern

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