Week 9 - October 13-16

Mr. Hamilton Callison

Director of WBI Belleville Operations
Wirtz Beverage - Investor

On Tuesday, Mr. Hamilton Callison came in from Wirtz Beverage to give the students insight on beverage distribution and related business procedures. He began by explaining the background of Wirtz and then delved into his own history to explain how every experience or job can help future endeavors. Highlights included margin analysis and customer service; and to illustrate this, Mr. Callison gave each of the students four scenarios that a beverage/snack business might follow and explained how each one would relate to long term survival of a company. Thank you for coming in Mr. Callison!

Written and Edited by Jessica Stern and David Rauckman

Malik engaged in “small talk” with Mr. Callison before his presentation started.

Montez introduced Mr. Hamilton Callison to the class.

Mr. Joe Wiley

President and Founder
Quest Management Consultants – Friend of CEO

On Wednesday, Belleville born and raised Joe Wiley came and spoke to our class about his very active life from basketball to football to his three different careers. Those three careers have included working in human resources, being a sports analyst, and of course his current career, being the founder and president of Quest Management Consultants. His business offers four main services, talent acquisition, career transition, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development. Quest's main goal is to help organizations manage their talent and individuals manage their careers. Joe Wiley made sure we all know how important it is to have a strong network. "If you don't have a good network, then it will take a long time to ramp up your business." We will all most definitely make sure we use this advice as we progress though this class and through life.

Written and edited by Paige Montgomery and Alan Plantz

A Special Thank You!

allsup_logo

A special thank you to Mr. Jim Allsup for allowing us to spend the first nine weeks at his company. Thanks to Ms. Carol Papenberg for coordinating all of the personnel needed for us to have our class at Allsup. Thanks to Mr. Chris Bugger and his staff for organizing our room when needed. Thanks to Ms. Julie Hanvey and her staff for helping us with all of our IT needs.

Last day with Nancy Mayo, receptionist at Allsup. “I really enjoyed seeing everyone in the morning! What a GREAT bunch of young people! I wish all of them well in their endeavors. #awesomegroup”

First Annual CEO Empowerment Day

John O'Leary - the Power of One!

The Belleville CEO Class attended the CEO Empowerment Day hosted by Nicol Foundation. We met many people such as the students and facilitator Mrs. Greenwald of Granite City CEO, Craig Lindvahl, and other business leaders in the area or surrounding areas. The keynote speaker John O'Leary told his story about how he was burned at 9 years old and practically was not supposed to be alive now. His story left us speechless. It was so inspirational! Craig Lindvahl was able to give us direction with our class business that we will take into account. All in all, we learned from each person we met that as a class and individuals to keep moving forward with our lives and count our blessings. Hard work will prevail in the end.

Written by Paige Montgomery and Edited by Sandy Amorado

Students interacting with Mr. Craig Lindvahl, Executive Director of Midland Institute.

Jessica and Conni Cash from Midland Institute

Malik, Sandy and Jessica meeting Kevin Nicol.

Malik, Montez, and Melony getting ready for the First Annual CEO Empowerment Day.

Kevin Nicol, Nicol Financial Services & Belleville CEO Investor

Malik's definition of success...is knowing who you are and being able to use that as a service for other people.

Just a Reminder

Our door is always open. Entrepreneurs, visitors, guests, and friends are welcome and highly encouraged to join us. Drop in and share your story with our students or participate in our class discussions. Check out the schedule on the website.

If you are interested in hosting our students for an educational visit about your business operations or would like to speak to the class and share your story, please email the facilitator, Julie Siebers, at jsiebers@bths201.org or call or text her at 618.719.3177.

Student in the Spotlight

Cassandra Amorado

Cassandra is a senior at Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, IL. She is a member of the National Honors Society, St. Vincent de Paul, Math Team, Teens 4 Life, and the softball team. She is on the executive board of Althoff Catholic's Spanish Club. Outside of school, she volunteers at the Belleville Humane Society. She is also an Assistant Ministry for Children's SundayLiturgy at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Belleville, IL. After high school, Cassandra hopes to attend the University of Notre Dame and major in either International Business or International Economics.

Here is Cassandra's Journal for Week 9:

With this week done, I have realized how much of an impact the CEO program will have on me after it finishes. I learned so much about business from leaders in the area and outside the area. I now know, for a fact, I want to have a career in the business world and create an everlasting impact like these leaders have for me.

When Hamilton Callison visited our class, he spoke about the family aspect of his business and what he does. Callsion is the Director of Operations at Wirtz Beverages. He is in the charge of audits, margin analysis, and customer service. He stated that customer service is a huge part of a business's success. Without excellent service, the customers will not be satisfied and not recommend you to their peers. Sometimes the better service may be costly, it will be worth it. He also mentioned the struggle between short term and long term goals. Goals are commitments and will help you reach your final achievement.

Joe Wiley's presentation, I think, was interesting. He talked about his life as a basketball player, but turned it around and focused more on his career. Wiley did not know what he wanted to do when he was younger. He became fascinated with different concepts such as graphics and sales. His goal was to get a degree which I believe is an excellent one. He then further spoke about how he had 3 careers: human resources, sport analyst, and entrepreneur (now). Wiley also talked about how having a strong network of people can be beneficial in the long run. Having good connections contributed to success.

The highlight of the week, though, was CEO Empowerment Day. Yes, it was not like TrepStart, but I was able to learn so much. I learned that life can change in a blink of eye from John O'Leary. He inspired me to never give up and keep moving forward with my life. I think I gained more out of his story a second time around. I picked up points I did not get the first time. Craig Lindvahl taught me a lot from just the small amount of time I got to speak with him. He also spoke with the class. When I spoke to him individually, I learned not focus in one specific area because the opportunities are endless. Lindvahl also taught our class about public relations issues regarding our class business. It really opened my eyes and hopefully my classmates' eyes, too.

When someone ask me why I chose to participate in the CEO Class, I know what I will say to him or her. "CEO is not like your typical honors high school class. There are no textbooks, quizzes, or tests. The class is not easy as it sounds. You are learning about the business world, yet acquiring skills you will use in your everyday life. It is a great experience to meet new people. In the long run, you will learn from these people and the business leaders that come and talk to the class. I have been greatly impacted by the program so far. It has given me better direction in my life. Now, I see a world full of opportunities rather than choices I have to make. I love that. I am discovering more about myself each day and I can not thank the program enough for that. It is challenge, but it is worth it when you look at yourself in the mirror and see how much you have grown. Trust me."

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