Belleville CEO program helps put high school students on successful career path

John Paul King

My name is John Paul King, I am 17 years old and a sophomore at SWIC. I heard about the CEO program through my parents because they attended last year’s Belleville’s Got Talent. Since I started at CEO I have noticed a drastic change in my confidence when approaching or talking to others.

The program has also taught me how to be disciplined and precise with my schedule. We are routinely forced out of our comfort zones to meet new people and put ourselves out there. The CEO students are some of the most charismatic and professional people I’ve ever met. The CEO class has easily been the most important class I’ve ever taken, because it teaches skills vital to succeeding in the business world. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the CEO class, I’ve grown as a person and met some amazing people along the way.

Isaiah Hoffman

My name is Isaiah Hoffman and I am a student of the Belleville CEO entrepreneurial program. I believe that CEO is the best program for any student that believes in working for themselves and starting their own business in the future. I always knew from a very young age that I would want to run my own business one day, and I never would have thought that there was a program for high school students that helps students this much with our dreams of starting a business.

There are some people in our class that don’t know for sure if they want to start a business, but luckily CEO is not only about that aspect. This program has given me a whole new perspective on so many small things that are very important, such as meeting new people, showing up on time for everything, and executing everything that we say that we will do. I believe that We will all have an impact in the business world, and just in the world in general, and my classmates believe that too.

Jake Haberman

Since the start of CEO, my attitude about the business world has changed completely. CEO truly is a class like no other, blending three local high schools into one single business class opens opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable.

Speaking of opportunities, the connections one is able to make throughout their time in CEO could potentially set them up for the rest of their life. In my opinion, one of the most beneficial things to really take advantage of during your time in CEO is the mentor program. My mentor is Mike Marchal and he has been nothing but great to converse with.

To be able to speak one on one with someone who has run a multi-million dollar business for several years now, is something many adults let alone kids strive to acquire. Mr. Marchal is my mentor and I could not ask for a better one. He has totally changed my career path with what I want to do and has shed light on opportunities I didn’t even know were there.

Additional CEO projects

One of CEO’s projects over the year is our class business. The class business is a group project that teaches us the importance of teamwork as well as entrepreneurship. The past few years the class has done Belleville’s Got Talent, which is a talent show featuring talented individuals in the metro-east area. The event will take place this year at the Scottish Rite on Saturday, Feb. 29. Tickets can be purchased online at our Eventbrite or from CEO students.

One dollar from every ticket will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Foundation in honor of the Creg Lindval, who started the CEO program. If you have any questions or concerns email the Belleville CEO program bellevilleceo.2020@gmail.com. The event will also provide dinner which will be donated by the local restaurants in Belleville. There will also be a 50-50 raffle and a silent auction. We hope to see you at Belleville’s Got Talent on Saturday, Feb. 29.

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 10:31 AM.