Egging a house took on an all-new and very fun meaning thanks to Huntington High School’s Virtual Enterprise business class program.
The Huntington HomeTown Virtual Enterprise company developed the idea for an “Egg Your House” fundraiser and the response was so overwhelming that almost immediately it had to stop accepting new orders.
The full-year, one credit Virtual Enterprise business course is available to juniors and seniors. “Virtual Enterprise is a simulated business that is set-up and run by students to prepare them for working in a real business environment,” according to the high school’s course bulletin.
The night before Easter, Virtual Enterprise students visited more than 100 houses in the community and hid candy-filled eggs around yards. The teenagers fanned out between 8-10 p.m. to do their work. When the youngsters in those homes woke up the following morning they were able to go on an old-fashioned egg hunt thanks to a visit from the Easter Bunny.
While the initiative was a HomeTown fundraiser, students from the PanTree and Poseidon Virtual Enterprise company teams chipped in as well. “They spent weeks buying, stuffing and organizing the eggs and more than 20 students participated in the actual deliveries,” business teacher Paige Furman said. “By all accounts, it was a fun and successful fundraiser and we hope to make it an annual event. Proceeds from the evening will go to current and future Virtual Enterprise classes to purchase business materials and promotional items for VE trade shows and presentations.”
The initiative really broke new ground and was fun for everyone involved. “We ended up delivering eggs to over 100 houses in the community and have been receiving such wonderful feedback from the parents since the event,” said Mrs. Furman, who along with faculty colleague Suzi Biagi teach the Virtual Enterprise students. “They were all so grateful and appreciative of the student ‘bunnies’ conducting themselves both professionally and respectfully.”
The event was a rewarding one for everyone involved. “It was so much fun,” said HomeTown CEO Naysa Escobar. “My stepmother, Paula and I were running around the front yards trying to hide the eggs when it was pitch black and got caught by a Chihuahua and scared by a black cat! We were so excited because we knew that Sunday morning the kids would wake up to the Easter egg scavenger hunt and it really made our day when the parents sent us pictures with the kids smiling faces.”
The response to the initial announcement of the fundraiser was so overwhelming that publicity promoting it was almost immediately shut down.
“It was a really fun experience and it was really cute thinking of the kids waking up being so excited seeing all of the eggs,” HomeTown Chief Financial Officer Alyson Baker said. “I was happy that I was able to be a part of giving them that feeling.”
The initiative provided many lessons to the Virtual Enterprise students. “It was truly a great experience being able to see how happy all of the kids were the next morning after we dropped off the eggs,” HomeTown sales associate Liam Lennon said. “It shows how far such a little thing can go.”
