Junior Acheivement Announces Scholarship Winners from the 2020 Titan Business Challenge

image of the winning team of the Junior Achievement Titan Challenge 2020

NEW BEDFORD, MA, March 18, 2020 — Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts (JA) and its Title Sponsor, Bristol County Savings Bank, announce that of the 72 teams from 14 high schools throughout southern Massachusetts who competed recently in the JA Titan Business Challenge at UMass Dartmouth, the three top performing teams were: First Place – Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School (Team 1) in New Bedford; Second Place – Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School (Team 3) of Rochester; and Third Place – Apponequet Regional High School (Team 3) in Lakeville. The JA Titan Business Challenge is a business strategy competition in which high school students compete against other schools in teams using an online, interactive business simulation game which provides students with essential business knowledge. The top three teams receive scholarships to a post-secondary school they choose to attend. Members of the first place will share $3,000 in scholarship money, second place $2,250 and third place $1,500.

The winners are as follows:

First Place – Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School (Team 1): students Christopher Cambra, Wilson Delaleu, Alexiah Gomes and Jordan Lopes; business mentor Sandy Wingo with Bank of America; and school coordinators Jennifer Carreiro and Crystal Ripley.

Second Place – Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School (Team 3): students Jacob Andrews, Eric Hackett and Kyle Wright; business mentor Rachel O’Donnell of Milestone Mortgage Solutions; and school coordinators Marsha Metivier and Ashleigh Mota-Medeiros.

Third Place – Apponequet Regional High School (Team 3): students Brendan O’Connor, Robert Pacheco and Aidan Wilson; business mentor Dawn Ferreira of First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union; and school coordinator Frank Rosa.

“We are so grateful for the support of Bristol County Savings Bank and our community partners who helped make JA’s 7th Annual Titan Business Challenge an exciting and impactful day for local students,” said Jeffrey Pelletier, President of JA of Southern Massachusetts. “This year, more than 200 students had the opportunity to learn from role models in the business community as they competed in teams for nearly $7,000 in scholarship awards that can help make a higher education possible.”

The following schools participated in the 2020 Junior Achievement Titan Challenge: Apponequet Regional High School (eight teams), Bishop Feehan High School (three teams), Bishop Stang High School (four teams), Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School (six teams), Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical High School (eight teams), Dartmouth High School (three teams), Dighton–Rehoboth High School (four teams), Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School (seven teams), Fairhaven High School (seven teams), Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School (five teams), New Bedford High School (two teams), Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School (three teams), Taunton High School (four teams) and Westport High School (one team).

In addition to partnering with UMass Dartmouth and lead sponsor, Bristol County Savings Bank, Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts enlisted the support of many local partners to ensure an impactful event for the participating students. Additional major sponsors included: Acushnet Company; Raw Sea Foods, Inc.; Mansfield Bank; Webster Bank; BankFive; BayCoast Bank; SCBA; Milestone Mortgage Solutions; Balkun Title and Closing; Carl’s Collision Center; John M. Brum, Attorney at Law; The Lapointe Insurance Agency and Stonegate Mortgage.

To prepare for the competition, students practiced and learned key business concepts that they needed to employ during the business simulation. The day of the event, participants attended leadership and strategy panels in which members of the business community reinforced concepts and offered professional advice. Teams then engaged in three rounds of competition as each team made decisions under the guidance of a volunteer business mentor. Students competed for college scholarships while gaining insight into the world of business, at no cost to the students or their high schools. In addition to developing budgets and interpreting financial reports, students increased their knowledge of pricing, production, capital investment, research and development, marketing and charitable giving.

Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA provides in-school and out-of-school programs to students’ kindergarten through twelfth grade, which focus on three key content areas: Financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship. This year, JA will impact nearly 7,000 students across 21 cities and towns throughout Bristol and Southern Plymouth Counties. For more information, please contact Jeffrey Pelletier, President, Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts, at jeffrey.pelletier@ja.org or call the JA office at 508-997-6536.