Star International Ready to Expand

Sandy Creek High School business students prepare to trade in other international market

By Pam Dufresne

Fayette Neighbor

 

(December 11, 1997)- Sandy Creek High School’s Star International is getting ready to expand.The student-run import/export company has traded goods with Scotland for the last few years and is now in negotiations with students in Kent, England.

The students displayed their products and discussed details with their British counterparts during a videoconference held recently. Several other schools also participated along with Georgia Secretary of State Lewis Massey.

Star International is composed of members of Sandy Creek’s International business class. Only students in the class can buy stock in the company. The stock is sold at $10 a share. A certain amount of the profit is turned back into the business and into the community. Last year’s investors saw a 350 percent profit.

Making the profit is a real-life learning experience for the students who run the company and do everything from finding products to export to checking out import duties.

The product line exported by Star International includes Beanie Babies, jewelry soaps, and candy. In turn, the company imports items such as wool scarves and gloves, gold towels and candies from Scotland. The students from Kent are sending samples of birthstones, jewelry, specialty food items and tea in decorative tins for the Sandy Creek students to look over.

Teacher advisors for the group include economic teacher Amor Kok, who focuses on the financial end of the company, and social studies teacher Marlene Holland, who helps the students learn about the cultural and social aspects of the countries the students deal with.

Each student in the company has a specialty, Kok said. "We have to have the discipline to give them the luxury of making their own mistakes," Kok said. "They also get a lot from the business community. The students do everything."

Student bankers Brian Elliot and Kyle Elrick do all the banking and take care of all the books. They keep track of invoices and handle the company’s three accounts as well as sell the stock to their fellow classmates.

Justin Markham is a member of the company’s legal staff. He makes calls to the U.S. Department of Commerce, gets information on shipping codes and import fees.

With this information, the students set the price for the goods they sell. This year, the company hit with a 32.5 percent fee on wool product imported from Scotland, up considerably from 10 to 11 percent charged last year.

In response, the students had to up the price on their goods, Markham said.

The capitol funds team holds clothing drives, sells chicken biscuits and shirts with the logo to raise money.