Manalapan High School Team Challenge Winners Recognized by BOE

The 2011 Team Challenge winners from were recognized at last night's Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education meeting in . Team Challenge is program designed through a partnership between the district and Allentown High School and the Greater Monmouth Chamber of Commerce's Education Committee.

Loretta Kuhnert, the President of the Greater Monmouth Chamber of Commerce (GMCC), formally recognized the students who won and took the time to present an overview of the district's partnership with the GMCC.

"We believe that through our Team Challenge program we contribute to the development of future business leaders," Kuhnert said.

The Education Foundation of the chamber is made up of volunteers, who are also local business owners. The volunteers work year-round donating time and money to the program, Kuhnert said. The education committee was thus established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization so that donations could be received in order to futher education programs. 

The Team Challenge program has been in existence for fifteen years, Team Challenge co-founder Bill Bladel explained. The program is made up of eight to 12 students per high school from each high school in the Freehold Regional High School District and Allentown High School. For the past seven years, the program has incorporated an ethics component so that the students can learn how to deal with questionable moral decisions in business.

"When you combine education with the ethical decision making process you can develop the leaders of the future and from a business standpoint that's why I am involved in [Team Challenge], to help the students enter the workforce," Lydell said.

Claude Blanc, the Chair of CHB Associates, a Team Challenge 2011 sponsor, presented the Board with all of the benefits of the program which include character development, transitioning the students from high school to college to career, learning ethical decision making, meeting students from other high schools and backgrounds, and gaining real life experience and skills.

The teachers begin training for Team Challenge in late September, student orientation begins in late October where the students are presented with their ethical dilemma, and the Team Challenge Day is held in December.

Blanc said that all of the students were well prepared and engaged on the Challenge Day where they had to present their solution to the ethical problem to a panel of judges made up of executives and administrators. This year, Manalapan High School took home the winning trophy; Marlboro High School got second place and Freehold Township High School took third place.

2011 Team Challenge Winners from Manalapan High School:

• Kyle Hausler
• Nolan Hausler
• Daniel Mahoney
• Kyle McBride
• Nicole Selterman
• Khushboo Sodhani
• Gregory Soto
• Donna Staiano
• Dustin Vanella
• Alexandra Wallach

The facilitators for the Manalapan High School Team, Susan Arnone and Regina Hayes, also work within the school’s Business Program. “The students benefit greatly from the Team Challenge," Hayes said. "Their interaction with chamber members provides invaluable insight about what is expected in the workforce, and they gain an enhanced understanding of the importance of ethical behaviors as it relates to career success.”

This year the competition was hosted by CentraState Healthcare System who themed the event, "An Ethics and Business Initiative for Tomorrow's Leaders".

“As a professional development specialist, I am a proponent of practical skills development. These students receive some of the same training that is delivered in major corporations today in areas like communication, teamwork, critical thinking and leadership, and this will help them as they continue their education and prepare to enter the workforce,” Juanita Davies, member of the Greater Monmouth Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee and President of J. Davies & Associates, a professional development corporation, said.

Other districts have expressed interest in joining Team Challenge and the Superintendent of the Asbury Park School District Dr. Denise Lowe attended last night's presentation. Also, the Director of Division of Programs for the State of New Jersey, Wendy Galloway.

Other judges at this year's Team Challenge include Stop and Shop Operations Manager, Robert Carlisle and CentraState Healthcare System, Sr. VP & Medical Director, Benjamin Weinstein.

The FRHSD partnership with the Greater Monmouth Chamber of Commerce is one of the many school-business partnerships that exist within the district with the aim to increase business learning opportunities for students and also improve collaborative and encouraging relationships that exist between FRHSD and the local business community.