Junior Justin Racine wins first place in Junior Achievement’s Business Competition.
Thomas Jefferson Junior Justin Racine showed off his entrepreneurial experience by taking home first place in the high school division finals of Junior Achievement’s Innovation Challenge: High School Business Plan Competition held in the Tivoli Center on the grounds of Metro State College of Denver last month.
“It started as a class project for Mr. Nicolo’s class. He presented me with the competition that Metro was holding and thought I could succeed,” said Racine. “So I spent time refining it and overall it was about a month of work.” All of the hard work paid off since Racine walked off with a $1,500.00 cash prize. “I’ll probably put it in the bank. Save it for a while, and then maybe get a car.”
Racine’s project, a proposed high-end restaurant that he designed himself, had to include details of what to expect if his concept was put on the market, including a full advertising campaign and a breakdown of all capital requirements. As an individual contender, Racine had to give a 10-minute presentation on his idea to a panel of judges and audience, and fulfill the requirements laid out by the contest guidelines.
This wasn’t the first time Racine has won a top prize; as a member of DECA he, along with his partners, won the awards for top performer at state competitions two years running.
“I plan on attending Regis University but Metro is definitely on the list of where I want to go,” said Racine who also has plans of majoring in business.
