1st Jul 2014
Our Mini Company Fuerza consisted of two Managing Directors; Jade Kelly and Hannah Clarke, two Secretaries; Olivia Armstrong and Shannon Wylie, the Production team; Tianna McCormack and Jonathan Brown, the Marketing team; Noemi Rea and Samuel Taylor; and lastly the Finance team; made up of Jane Thompson and Sharon Watt. We as a team created and sold numerous products over a 4 month period to raise money for two chosen charities.
Of course like any business, we had to apply for our jobs. First of all we had to write a letter of application to Mrs Ferguson and then we sat an interview with her and Mr Kinney. This was a nerve-wrecking experience for some, but we all gained a sense of achievement when we succeeded in getting our chosen positions.
Before we knew it, time had flown by and it was fast approaching Halloween. It was our first real challenge but there was a slight problem. We needed a team name and logo. This was no easy task and we spent countless periods with our thinking caps on trying to come up with something creative. Noemi and her Spanish roots were called upon and after many discussions we chose the Spanish word ‘Fuerza’, which means ‘strength’ in English. This is also how we came up with our logo, which features a Spanish black bull, symbolising the strength of our team.
With Halloween just around the corner, we brainstormed for many hours trying to come up with innovative products. We eventually all agreed on concentrating on the sweet stuff! With only 3 pence in the cash box and a few pounds in the bank, we had to take some risks. We sold shares at £10 and many of the teachers were happy to help us out. In total we raised £170 in shares and with this money we sent Sharon to Makro to buy the first batch of sweets. It could be said that she got a little carried away and we ended up spending our break and lunch times bagging sweets for our 50p mix ups.
After many attempts, Tianna and Noemi created our cake pops, which were a huge success. Along with these we also sold lollies, top hats, and rice crispy buns. At Halloween we also held a mask competition, charging pupils £2 to enter. After lots of consideration our winner, Chloe Bennett 10EA was chosen.
Once Halloween was over, Christmas was looming and we had to work quickly. It was decided that we would produce two calendars and handmade Christmas baubles. Of course this costs money, but we had the extra help of £200 sponsorship from Cookstown Enterprise Centre. Off we went, creating our two calendars ‘a laugh a month’ (animal memes) and ‘step back in time’ (old pictures of Cookstown). These were both very popular and we sold out quickly. The same could be said for our baubles, as after many mishaps they too sold promptly.
These quick sales were helped by the school play, ‘Calamity Jane’ which was held in the school. We went dutifully every night and set up our stall. It was a great and enjoyable experience getting to interact with our customers, who gave us wonderful feedback.
Our team worked hard and even though we disagreed on quite a lot of things, we all wanted to achieve one thing, and that was to raise a substantial amount of money for our chosen charities; REVIVE (ICU Unit, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast) and Casa Irlanda, Romania. Each charity received a cheque for £730, which we presented at our final meeting. We chose REVIVE in memory of a fellow pupil Charly-Jean Thompson and Casa Irlanda after members of our team travelled to Romania and witnessed the work the charity was doing there.
We would not have been able to raise this money without the help of the teachers and pupils who supported us or from the help we received from Ciaran Higgins from Cookstown Enterprise Centre. We would also like to thank David Reid from First Trust Bank and Mr Ian McCullough who supplied the pictures for our ‘Step back in time’ calendar.
Lastly and by no means least, we would like to thank Mrs Ferguson for putting up with us, even when we took over her room on countless occasions. She had to deal with her room being fumigated with paint, over 100 chocolate bars being left in her store and many other mishaps. She kept us going and we are very grateful.
It’s been a very worthwhile experience and we would highly recommend it to anyone.
Fuerza Secretaries,
Olivia Armstrong and Shannon Wylie
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