Our 2020 Case Club Participants
The Business Case Club has been running at Southridge since 2017/18. It is an after-school activity that runs from 3:30 to 4:15 once per week throughout the entire school year.
The purpose of the Business Case Club is:
- To teach, coach, and practice how to analyze, problem-solve, and present business cases
- To build creative and critical thinking skills in a team setting
- To learn how to come up with solutions for a variety of business world problems
As students participate and practice the protocols and procedures to business case analysis, they are prepared to participate in a number of high school business case competitions that are held throughout the year. While not all students participate in the competitions since they’re optional, each year, there are about 15 to 20 Grade 11 students who sign up for the club and about 10 of them usually attend the competitions. The primary focus is on students in Grade 11 as most Case competitions specify that students be at least at that level in order to cope with the quantitative skills or financial analysis. They do not necessarily need to be enrolled in particular courses (math or economics) to participate, but it is a good idea for those who are researching business or commerce post-secondary programs to consider joining this club as case analysis is the primary teaching tool for most university/college business programs. Each year, our Case Club usually has 2 to 4 students who are willing to continue participating in the club in their grad year, in the capacity of leaders/coaches to work with the teacher sponsor.
2021 UBC Engineers Without Borders Case Competition Participants
This year, for the first time, we've invited some alumni who have or are currently attending business schools to present to club members, which was a fun way for our students to learn more about what their futures could hold. In March, the club welcomed Alumnus Ryan Wilson (Class of '02) to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur. In April, the club had Ben Anderson (Class of '20) share his experiences so far at UBC Sauder School of Business. And in May, Jake Girling (Class of '15) reflected on his time at Western University - Ivey School of Business. These alumni shared how cases were delivered and taught in their business programs as well as business insights from their professional careers.
In a non-pandemic world, Case competitions are held in a variety of locations and are sponsored (usually) by universities. Some of the competitions went ahead in an online or virtual format, while others were cancelled.
Examples of Competitions:
UBC Engineers Without Borders Youth Case Competition
Ivey Business Case Competition
BCIT Business Case Competition
North Surrey Secondary/SFU Invitational Case Competition
Richmond School District Case Competition
Contributed by Yvette Livingston, Teacher Sponsor for Business Case Club, Senior Guidance & Career Education Counsellor