Frank Baza, a Da’ok Academy student who also works at Mobil Kagman, shares the information he learned regarding business operations.
Jose Olopai, left, and Jim Arenovski show the front portion of the t-shirt created, marketed, advertised, and sold by the participants of the course.
Da’ok Academy students who completed the Entrepreneurship and Small Business certification course pose for a photo with Da’ok Academy Principal Christine Tudela, Island Training Solutions’ Jim Arenovski and Alex Wu, and representatives from the Public School System. The students holding their certificates are Kiana Emangmai, Senline Kaipat, Jose Olopai, Jeen Sablan, Naysin Solomon and Frank Baza.
EIGHT students from Da’ok Academy on Thursday, Jan. 18, concluded an Entrepreneurship and Small Business certification course taught on their campus by Island Training Solutions in collaboration with the Public School System-Career Technical Education Program.
Co-instructor Jim Arenovski said two cohorts of students comprised the class. The first consisted of four students who spent the early part of the semester studying business finance, marketing, operations and distribution. They later put their knowledge into practice by designing and selling t-shirts.
On Thursday, their final day of class, students Jose Olopai, Naysin Solomon, Kiana Emangmai and Senline Kaipat detailed how they built their business from the ground up.
Olopai said they designed a t-shirt with the help of a classmate, and then solicited price quotations from printing companies on Saipan. They ultimately settled with local brand Hagu Real.
Solomon’s job was in sales and accounting, he said. His responsibilities included creating sales reports and proposals, as well as holding inventory records. He also generated the flyer for the t-shirt.
Emangmai was Solomon’s partner in sales. She said it was difficult to complete sales because “no one had the money to buy.”
Kaipat, the team’s social media marketer, used Instagram to advertise the product. She said her static posts were not so successful, but posts on the story created interest in the product.
Kaipat said one story was able to result in “a lot of dms” or direct messages.
Aside from selling online and at school, the students sold t-shirts to residents outside of the campus, as well as to certain retail locations on island.
In all, the group made 96 shirts and sold 54 of them, Arenovski said. He added that Kaipat was the top salesperson.
The students were later presented with checks they had earned from their sales.
As for the four other students — Jeen Sablan, Frank Baza, Kenneth Dela Cruz and Luis Litulumar — co-instructor Alex Wu said they, too, completed an entrepreneurial experience in an earlier session.
The students were also assigned to a job site to “help them understand how a business ticks,” Arenovski said.
As part of their final project, they had to interview the managers or supervisors at their job site to learn who the company CEO was; the top selling products; who handles marketing and what sort of advertisements they create; how many employees the company has, etc.
The students were expected to “ask specific questions … about how the business runs,” Arenovski said.
Da’ok Principal Christine Tudela said she was proud of her students. She said the skills they picked up inside the class could serve them well once they graduated.
Tudela said the students learned what type of business interests them, as well the personal and interpersonal skills needed in the workplace.
Moreover, in the class, “they all had a role and they all fulfilled it as a team,” she said.
