VIA Star Winners Develop Park Cell Phone App Concept

Elijah Valentine, Gabriel Sunga and Kevin Sogata were all smiles last week, when they received a five-feet-tall trophy for winning the Valley Industrial Association’s annual VIA STAR contest. The Valencia High School students, ages 15, 16 and 15 respectively, won the contest with their business plan and pitch for a cell phone application that could be used by Six Flags Magic Mountain. “I really enjoyed the VIA Star experience because it was challenging and allowed us to use the skills we’ve learned in DECA (a high school-level marketing association),” said Gabriel Sunga. “We also got to see how a big business is run and how every bit of confidence and structure counts,” said Elijah Valentine. VIA STAR (Students Teaming to Achieve Results) links students to the local business community. Teams of between three and five are paired with a teacher coach and participating business. Over the course of two months, they research, brainstorm, and design a new product or service for their host business. Then they draft a business plan to build and market the product. Their work is presented to the company and a panel of VIA STAR judges. “Pairing students with local businesses allows the students to hone in on their communication skills and apply their classroom knowledge to the real world,” said Diana Meyer, VIA STAR committee chair. “Business participants get to see some fresh ideas because young minds are not thinking in the box. Finalists in this year’s contest included the Valencia High School students; a team from Newhall Elementary School that designed a walking tour for Old Town Newhall; and a team from Sierra Vista Junior High School that worked on a project to show how math is applicable to real life. Valentine, Sunga and Sogata toured Six Flags Magic Mountain and came up with an idea for a cell phone app that would allow park attendees to access ride wait times, an interactive map of the park, and information about restaurants, hotels and services in the Santa Clarita Valley. They presented the idea to Magic Mountain’s president, and presented it at a VIA luncheon on Nov. 17. The team plans on taking the idea to the amusement park’s whole marketing staff and to another DECA competition. Are the kids hooked on business? “I want to eventually start a candy business,” said Valentine. “I want to pursue something in the medical field, but maybe do something related to business,” said Sunga. And Sogata said he wants to go into software development.