Riverside-Brookfield High School junior John Isaacson has launched his own photography and videography business. It’s called Ike’s Visuals and typically shoots school sporting events.
He’s a student first and foremost, of course, but he’s involved in sports himself and also posts to RB’s football and basketball teams’ Instagram and Facebook pages.
In between that, he’s running his business, so life is a constant balancing act, when you consider he’s also got a social life and family responsibilities, too.
That growing acumen is part of the value he brings to Bulldogs in Business, a new club that launched this semester. Isaacson is the treasurer of the club, which is moderated by Patty Sarkady, a business and technology educator in the technical education department.
So how does Isaacson answer a crucial question in the business world: What’s the more important resource to manage – time or money?
No doubt in Isaacson’s mind.
“I think managing time,” he said. “It’s a lot.”
Bulldogs in Business was the brainchild of junior Julia Szymczak, who wants to go into financial engineering after high school. That’s a growing field where artificial intelligence is used to help businesses run more efficiently.
“I wanted to launch it because I want to go into business, I want to major in business, and I was looking for something other than the business classes,” Szymczak said. “I wanted something as a community and do more for it. We have a health science club here, but no business club. So I wanted to make one as well to have a community and be able to collaborate and work together.”
Sarkady said it takes about a year for a club to start at the high school, including vetting and school board approval.
“Everything is validated to make sure it’s a club that will do well,” she said.
Bulldogs in Business is off to a great start and offers monthly topical discussions on business matters. In January, for example, the discussion was about Valentine’s Day and how the economy shifts at that time.
There are about 30 students involved and the board includes Isaacson; Szymczak, the president; sophomore vice president Alonzo Villegas; sophomore marketing supervisor Alex McQueeney; junior fundraising chair Sophia Jimenez; and junior secretary Layla Konar.
McQueeney takes part in the club because business might be something she wants to pursue as a career. And maybe not, but either way, she’ll be armed with the information and experience she needs to make an informed decision.
“I’m involved because next year I’m taking AP Business, and I thought that this would be a good jump start to get involved in the culture and see if that’s what I want to do in the future,” she said. “Being on the board I think just helps me with that experience.”
Jimenez, whose mom owns two businesses, joined Bulldogs in Business because she is contemplating going into finance as a career, but like McQueeney, that’s just a maybe right now.
“This gives me more of a feel of a representation of what I would be doing,” she said.
But what are rank-and-file students asking about the club? Turns out, a lot, according to Villegas, who loves numbers and wants to go into finance.
“I think a big one is marketing, because that’s what lot of people want to go into,” he said. “I think for the first meeting, we had our survey where we wanted to see what (students) were most interested in, and by far marketing was the one that was most chosen.”
Konar is interested in marketing, which is why she joined.
“I think that joining the club would be helpful to try to weigh my options and make that decision,” she said.
Where is Bulldogs in Business a year from now? The board has big plans, on the order of DECA, the global career and technical student organization. There is no DECA program at RB, so Bulldogs in Business is the same type of opportunity.
“I want to make it more collaborative,” Szymczak said. “Right now it’s me and Alonzo running it, going up and presenting. I want to make it more of a group project, like we’re together like a real business, and compete in business competitions.”
Sarkady teaches Business 1, Business 2 and Social Media and Digital Marketing, and Bulldogs in Business ties back to the concepts she wants her students to remember upon graduation.
“I like innovation, driving change in growth,” she said. “I also like taking risks and creating value. These are all good words.”