Case analysis and presentation skills are something every business student needs to master.

Picking up those skills was the focus Wednesday, May 10 as 65 high school students from the Niagara Catholic District School Board visited Brock University for the inaugural High School Business Competition run by the Goodman School of Business.

Business students Mikayla Zolis and Nick Hollard, who both earned top spots at case competitions during their university careers, started the event by facilitating a training session to teach students how to analyze a business case and present successfully.

Although Zolis did not have the opportunity to participate in a case competition in high school, she started competing in university because she recognized the impact it would have on her future.

“I knew presenting at case competitions was a skill I wanted to develop further and that it would be of value for any type of job I had in the future, whether I stayed in business or went into something different,” she said.

After dividing into small teams, students brainstormed ways to solve the problems in the case before giving a five-minute presentation to judges.

A team from each participating school won a prize at the award ceremony at end of the event, but not before the whole group received valuable presentation feedback from each of the judges.

For Grade 11 Saint Francis student George Willis, that was the highlight of the day.

“When our group got feedback from the judges, it was really good to learn what I could improve on and I’d love to do it again. If I could come back next year, it would be amazing — it was a great experience,” said Willis, who was part of a winning team.

Willis and his peers were accompanied by their teacher, Mark Jenkins, who sat in on their presentations.

“I loved it and the kids got so much out of it,” said Jenkins.

“They came here nervous because they have never done anything this before. They didn’t think they could do it and now they have found out they can,” he said, adding that events like this will help prepare his students for public speaking in the future.

“Every time they get up in front of people and speak, a bit of that nervousness goes away and this is one little chip they can take back with them to help them be more ready for the next time. That’s what experiential education is all about.”

The winning teams from each school are:

• Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School: Hannah Oakley, Tori Praakel and Bryan Tassone
• Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School: Tatenda Dandato, Eric Laflamme, Rosie Gialanella, Nick MacLaurin and Max Trivieri
• Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School: Nicole Konialian, Devon Sherriff and George Willis
• Saint Paul Catholic High School: Connor Duschesne, Jocelyn Palalas-Mouradian, Breanna Romaniello, Cody Somerville and Ethan Zheng