Estie Cuellar
MBA
At a Glance...
I have been involved in many different endeavors since I began teaching. It is difficult to fit them all in on a résumé--or even in an interview. Here are a few highlights of my pursuits to enrich the educational experiences of my students through the years.
Highlights
I have incorporated a myriad of Web 2.0 tools into the courses that I teach. An excellent example of this would be to peruse my Sports Marketing Wikispace, my Global Business Wikispace, or my newest Fashion Marketing Wikispace. The use of Wikispaces has provided a way for me to digitize much of what happens in the classroom--that way students can always be connected. Other Web 2.0 tools include Google Drive and Google Apps, NearPod for lesson delivery and formative assessment, VoiceThread, and Edmodo. I am always looking for new tools and always challenging students to try new and different Web 2.0 tools when they are in the midst of completing projects. Through these challenges, I can instill in them both the importance for life-long learning and the necessity for digital citizenship.
Flat Classroom Projects (now called "Flat Connections") and project-based learning (PBL). I was introduced to the concept of Flat Classroom and PBL during my "23 Things" professional development in 2008. Since then, several of my classes have participated in Flat Classroom Projects--through which I was able to take a group of students to a Global Leadership Conference in Doha, Qatar. Further, a colleague of mine and I designed our own "connected project" to connect our Global Business classes and I have incorporated PBL into all of the courses I teach. I find that through projects, students not only have the opportunity to collaborate and learn new Web 2.0 tools, but also demonstrate mastery of concepts learned in the classroom.
Through the years I've worked to provide a variety of job shadow opportunities for my students. Several of those opportunities were with the Houston Aeros whenever they were still part of the Houston area sports scene. Other job shadow opportunities came from the Houston Rockets basketball team. One year my JACP students had the opportunity to job shadow with the team from American General. The highlight of their visit was when CEO Mary Jane Fortin shared with the students her career experiences and challenged the students to take what they had learned from operating their student business to benefit them in both college and career.
In 2006, I began a Junior Achievement Company Program (JACP) on our campus. I developed a marketing campaign to generate interest. The campaign included flyers, posters, and PA announcements. There were approximately 100 students that attended the first meeting eager to discover what "JA" meant. Of the 100 that attended that first meeting, 38 were interested in starting and running a student-led company on campus.
The students first developed their company name (WINC), their company logo (a winking tiger that spells out WINC- see icon), and their company slogan (WINC...you know you want to...). I worked with the students to develop their vision, mission, and core values. The students have been diligent in not only adhering to them, but also teaching them to new company members each year since.
Each year as we progress through the JACP Curriculum, students learned how to organize their company, brainstorm and develop ideas for products, perform analysis to select the most profitable products, write their business plan, marketing plan, and develop and adopt their company charter. Company members learn accounting functions, marketing functions, management functions, and human resource functions. At the end of each "company year" students learn how to liquidate and close the company until the next year begins.
From the beginning the company has competed in all of the local competitions including Trade Fair, Officer Competitions, and Company of the Year. Through these competitions company members have won numerous awards and scholarships. It takes a lot of work and dedication to maintain this level of success for a JACP. However, sponsoring these students has been rewarding and most definitely a privilege.
Please visit the WINC Page that I have set up to learn more about what their JACP has accomplished over the years.