School Application

2008 Team Participant Overview

Welcome to the VIA STAR Contest.  Be part of the One winning Team!  Think of it as Santa clarita's own "Apprentice."  You and Your Team get a shot to shine as Junior Entrepreneurs!  You will be introduced to a Santa Clarita Company and with the help of a Business Coach/Facilitator, if you choose to use it, you will be able to mastermind with successful Santa Clarita Businesses, Apply business analysis tools and project management methodology in a real world situation.  Add this program to your resume, as a practical hands-on experience like no other!

Teams will be required to meet with business partners a minimum of two times. The first meeting will be for discovery. The students will interview key members of the business to research and gather data about the business and their products and/or services. This meeting will take place at the location of the Corporate Partner and will require the presence of the teacher coach. Students may take photographs and/or video to record the meeting. A note-taker should be designated to record dialogue.

Applications must be received no later than September 15, 2008. Click here to download application.

Requirements for students:

1. Teams must consist of no less than 3 and no more than 5 student members.
2. Student team members must attend the same school.
3. Students must utilize school resources, i.e. computers, audio/visual, photography, CAD, etc… 
4. A teacher/coach representative from your school is required.  No teacher/coach may represent more than 2 teams unless VIA STAR is an in-class assignment.  Tteacher/coaches wishing to represent more than 2 teams as a class assignment should contact the Valley Industrial Association directly for guidelines:  kathy@via.org
5. Power Point presentation with all team-members participatingis recommended. (business, computer) A video presentation is optional.

Teacher Coaches:

• Teacher coaches must be present with the student teams on their initial visit to the business partner and it is recommended that the coach attend all meetings between the Business Partner and the Student Teams.
• Coach must commit to the project from beginning to end.
• Coach is responsible to provide guidance to Student Teams.
• The coach will be expected to assist the teams in meeting time-lines.

Tools Provided:

• All teams will be provided with a VIA STAR Success Pack upon registration.  The VIA STAR Success pack includes project instruction, sample agendas for meetings as well as a Project Plan Template to empower your team to be a success!

Project Milestones & Feedback:

Team journals, Host company feedback questionnaires and project templates are all part of your final project as well as a presentation to the judges.

Conduct and Dress Code:

Business casual attire is appropriate for all host company interactions.  All requests for alternate attire must be made in wriging and approved by the VIA STAR Committee prior to meeting with a Host company.  Traditional business attire is appropriate for final judging presentations.

Rules:

The Valley Industrial Association reserves the right to make changes, deletions or additional to the Contest Rules at any time.

Intellectual Property:

All creations are done so through the support of this program.  Any idea, product or other is subject to review for authenticity and accuracy.

Click here to review contest timeline