Thursday, August 3, 2023
Photos by Tom Wilson, writer/editor-Penn College News
The Foundation for Free Enterprise Education wrapped up its summer sessions this past week, giving 300 high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to run their own companies while immersing them in all that Penn College has to offer. Throughout the week, speakers – including a Purple-Hearted hero and a homecoming, of sorts, for the college's former president – addressed such topics as ethics, business and government, leadership, effective communication, teamwork, career development, and entrepreneurship. Participants form management teams of an underperforming manufacturer in direct contention with other student companies, competing in all aspects of business operation from budgeting to ad campaigns. The season's other Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week camps were held during July at Lycoming College.
President Emeritus Davie Jane Gilmour returns to the Klump Academic Center Auditorium stage for a Tuesday morning address, "Who (Instead of What) Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?" While citing the oft-heard quote that "Hope is not a strategy for success," the 2022 retiree said the word's letters offer an easy-to-remember road map toward human development: Help, Opportunities, People and Perseverance, and Experiences and Ethics.
The PFEW playlist often invites on-stage participation prior to General Assembly speakers, whether it's a "Cotton Eye Joe" grapevine ...
...or a "Cupid Shuffle" line dance.
Lycoming Engines' Shannon Massey, involved in transportation since pre-college days in her family's auto repair garage, provides some nourishing food for thought as Tuesday afternoon's keynoter. Among the pointers from the chemical engineer turned corporate VP? "Hold true to your values."
Among the products developed and marketed during the week is the Toasted Towel, a potentially hot item for the frosty days ahead.
Retired Army Sgt. Rick Yarosh, standing before a 2006 photo of his burned-out Bradley fighting vehicle in Iraq, motivates participants to find the rewards on the other side of difficulty.
Teens don their PFEW T-shirts and gather outside the ACC for company photos with their adult business mentors.
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