By PAT NEWMAN

Staff Writer

Amy Hunter is a Sandy Creek High School senior and CEO of an international trading company.

Her company's officers are fellow students who vied competitively for a position at Star International, the name of the five-year-old business headquartered at Sandy Creek.

According to Marlene Holland, an economics teacher at Sandy Creek and facilitator for Star International, the student-run company is a “fusion of theory and real life practical skills. It's a real company,” Holland explained. “Students are learning to deal on an adult level. They also develop coping skills,” she added.

The officers and staff of Star International “go to work” every day during first period home room and deal with all aspects of their business, which exports products such as t-shirts, book socks, student-made silver rings and pecan products to their partner school in Ayr, Scotland. In return, they receive and market tartan plaid scarves, shortbread and St. Andrews golf products from the Scottish students.

The students are responsible for all aspects of the company, including raising capital through projects such as a used clothing drive, annual golf tournament and sale of stocks, to marketing, pricing and shipping their products and imported items. They've developed power point presentations for appearances before local civic groups, businesses and schools, and have honed telecommunication with the use of e-mail.

To be “hired” by Star International, students must apply and be selected by Holland, who has guided the program since its inception in 1994. “We had approximately 80 students apply for 25 positions,” she said. “It's very competitive, but it's not necessary for every student to have a 99 average. We need people to deal with publicity, photography and technical positions. Selecting the students is a very difficult task,” Holland said.

But Holland's enthusiasm for the program, which is one of 70 such trade enterprises operating in Georgia schools, is overwhelming. “This is my 28th year as a teacher, and this is probably the most exciting thing I've ever done,” she admitted.

About one fourth of the students who have participated in the yearlong business venture at Sandy Creek are now studying international business as a university major, Holland noted.

One of the company's key goals is to strike a balance of trade with their Scottish counterparts, said Hunter. But the Americans' penchant for consumer goods tips the balance in favor of more imports.

When students signed on with Star International, one of the requirements was to purchase $10 shares of stock. Today, those stocks are worth $92 a share.

Interest in the progress of the company continues, Holland said, even after students graduate. “Every group looks at what the students did last year,” she said. “It's not just how much money we've made, but what we have done to change and enhance the company.”

Students are working toward a trip to Scotland in March, with plans to meet with their business colleagues in person and present their strategies for success to Scottish companies. In the meantime, they will continue learning about the country's culture and colloquialisms.

To find out more about this innovative company, e-mail starinternational@fcboe.org.