By Charlyne Nguyen, Katy Nguyen & Brian Pham
Full disclosure: Katy Nguyen and Brian Pham are enrolled in the fourth period Virtual Enterprise class.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Fountain Valley High School Virtual Enterprise (VE) class, like many other elective courses, has moved all of their activities online.
VE is a Regional Occupational Program class that allows students the opportunity to create and operate their own companies and compete in competitions.
This year, VE is divided into two separate classes: a zero and fourth period. While both classes are led by business teacher Sarah McCance, they have their own companies.
“With the popularity and success in Virtual Enterprise the past few years, we were lucky enough to interview enough candidates to fill two competitive classes,” McCance said. “FV has such bright and amazing students, we wanted more to have the opportunity to take such a dynamic course.”
Fillosophy is the zero period VE class with senior Vinh Tran as Chief Executive Officer. Their company centers around a mobile refill station for household supplies, such as hand soaps, dish soap and detergent.
“We currently have four trailers on rotation throughout Orange County, located around farmers markets, college dorms, etc., to help bring convenience to those that want to start or continue being more eco-friendly,” said senior Shayla Pham, the Chief Operating Officer of Fillosophy.
MINED is the fourth period VE class with senior Natalie Papazian as Chief Executive Officer. Their company is a clothing brand that sells denim products made out of recycled plastic bottles.
“With the impact of plastics on the environment, our mission is to decrease plastic waste while also providing our consumers with fashionable products,” Papazian said. “MINED is actually denim spelled backwards, because we’re flipping the industry!”
Despite missing out on the usual trade shows and competitions, both classes have adapted quickly to VE in a virtual setting.
“We’ve done an excellent job as a class to make this situation work and gain the most from it,” Pham said. “It’s also very disappointing that we likely won’t get to go on any field trips for trade shows this year, especially for seniors new to the class since they didn’t get to experience them last year.”
Although there is added competition of having two separate classes to represent FVHS, students from each of the classes are thrilled for what the rest of the year has in store.
“This year has been off to an amazing start. I am so grateful our team has already created a strong bond; I personally think it allows us to work more efficiently,” Papazian said. “We’ve all been working rigorously to make sure all our company is consistently striving to do our best and I couldn’t be prouder of the progress we’ve been making.”
McCance is also excited to be working with the new students in the classes and is impressed with the amount of effort everyone has been putting out.
“Being online has been challenging in the way we compete and our team buildings have been different but I think it is also a good lesson for us all to learn new things and to adapt to what is going in around us,” McCance said.
To keep up with both of the companies, you can follow @fvhsve and @vefvhs on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit their websites at fillosophyve.com and minedve.com.
