'Reality education' grows with popularity of reality television Smithfield-Selma High School teacher uses "Apprentice" concept in classroom SMITHFIELD*From the Trump Tower Board Room to a Smithfield-Selma High School classroom, principles from the reality based television show, "The Apprentice", teach valuable business concepts. This semester, the Smithfield-Selma High School Small Business Entrepreneurship class began watching "The Apprentice" and having its own competitions based on course-directed business practices. "I like to call it 'reality education'," said the class teacher Bud Hanley. "We're teaching to an MTV generation that has grown up around the television and these days children enjoy learning more from entertainment and hands-on experience as they do from lectures." Hanley said his intention is to provide the students with an opportunity to discuss and learn what they are going to see in the real world and "The Apprentice" provided a tool for him to create a fun way to learn about business concepts. On the show, the cast is divided into groups who must chose a team leader and decide who will fulfill each role necessary to carry out assignments made by one of the show's creators, Donald Trump. The most successful team advances on and is rewarded while the losing team must select its weakest members who face being fired in the board room by Trump. The final candidate is hired by Trump. Hanley says the show provides a good look at business concepts for the students including marketing, teamwork, leadership, business ethics, communication, and entrepreneurial experiences. Students can learn lessons from other's experiences and just as importantly, they can learn what not to do. Throughout the semester, student teams will perform various tasks in which they will break into groups, plan their own strategies and then put their ideas into practice. Following each exercise the class will have a discussion and debate regarding the activities that took place. There will be a winning team and a losing team, but the class does not "fire" students as they do on the show; students just take a hit on their win-loss record. They can recover with new leaders and get another shot at winning on a subsequent project. At the end of the semester, a prize will be awarded to the students with the best records. The first exercise revolved around the selling of Smithfield-Selma High School t-shirts. Students were split into two teams with the goal to sell as many t-shirts to their fellow students and teachers as they could during the lunch period for one day. Each team selected a day to perform and put their plans into action. According to Hanley, it was definitely a win-win situation. The student body was able to show their pride by purchasing school t-shirts, the Booster Club gained over $500 in t-shirt sales and the two teams of business students had fun and learned valuable business lessons in teamwork, marketing, communication, and leadership.
