Last week the Edwards School of Business hosted the 2016 Saskatchewan Business Teachers' Association (SBTA) teacher conference and case competition. Eighty-four students from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario competed in the areas of Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship with the goal of being named the Business High School of the Year.

“Edwards is pleased to support an event that raises awareness of business education courses at the high school level,” said School of Business Dean Daphne Taras. “These future business leaders have a unique opportunity to experience a first-class learning environment.”

The competition, modeled after JDC West, gave the students only a few hours to prepare a fifteen minute presentation on their case. Each team, comprised of three students, presented their case to a panel of judges representing Edwards School of Business, Hill School of Business in Regina, and the Saskatchewan business community.

Students also heard from Canada’s Financial Literacy Leader, Jane Rooney, who delivered a key note presentation at the SBTA dinner. “Financial literacy is an invaluable life skill,” said Ms. Rooney. “And, engaging high school students from across the country in a dialogue on personal finances and entrepreneurship in a fun and even competitive way like this is a great step towards strengthening these skills. Not to mention that it could benefit their personal and professional situations longer term.”

An added incentive for the case competition is a partnership between the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business and the University of Regina’s Hill School of Business to provide scholarship opportunities to participating students. Edwards is offering a total of $64,000 in scholarships for eligible students competing in the event who enter the Bachelor of Commerce program in September 2016.

The rankings for the case competition were as follows:

Entrepreneurship Case – Consideration placed on the financing, marketing and resourcing of a new venture, along with implementing technology where applicable.

First Place:         Huda School (Regina, SK) - Romaisa Ismaeel, Saadia Burki and Ibrahiem Essalah

Second Place:    Birtle Collegiate (Birtle, MB) - Troy Harris, Wyatt Sandstrom and James Jellicoe

Third Place:        Appleby College (Oakville, ON) - Will Cheesewright, Austin Essaye and Justin Verdon

Personal Finance Case – Consideration placed on the topics of budgeting, credit, income, taxation, home buying and insurance.

First Place:         Birtle Collegiate (Birtle, MB) - Cassidy Lyttle, Davey Couvier and Kiara Fulham

Second Place:    Huda School (Regina, SK) - Iqra Abdul, Nudha Ismaeel and Tasbik Bouzertit

Third Place:        Swan River School (Swan River, MB) - Aiden Chemolowski, Robin Seib & Eric Galuschuk

Social School of the Year – Consideration placed on determination, teamwork and creativity.

First Place:         Campbell Collegiate (Regina, SK)

Second Place:    Greenal High School (Balgonie, SK)

Third Place:        Sun West Distance (Saskatoon, SK)

Business School of the Year – Based on a combination of points from the case competition and school spirit.  

Huda School (Regina, SK)

To see what the SBTA Case Competition is all about check out this short video by Strategy Lab: https://vimeo.com/165661359

For more information or to get involved in the 2017 event please visit www.sbtaonline.ca