Dixon High Students Learn the Ins and Outs of Running a Business

The custom wheels, audio equipment and high-powered cars that students at Dixon High School’s Virtual Enterprise class sell are not real; but the skills that are being put to use are very much so.

D-town Whips – whip is teenager lingo for car – is the name of the virtual business that students have formed to give them a sense of how to run a business while learning entrepreneurial and leadership skills. On a rainy Thursday afternoon, the class held an open house event to showcase what they have been working on since the beginning of the semester.

“This open house was not only to showcase what the students have been doing, (but) to encourage other students to learn about leadership and entrepreneurship,” instructor Christine Long said.

The Virtual Enterprise class is broken up into different departments. Seventeen students are in charge of everything from human resources, sales and marketing, financing, web site design, bookkeeping and public relations Long said.

The students work in conjunction with fellow virtual enterprise classes throughout Solano County and all over the nation. In March, D-Town Whips will be competing against other classes at a virtual enterprise trade show in Oakland Long said.

For the students, D-town Whips has become a way for them to learn what it takes to run a business. They work as a team to push the company.  

Seventeen-year-old DHS junior Rene Garcia, who works in D-town Whips’ human resources department, said he dreams of starting his own clothing line and said that the class is giving him valuable experience.

“It is different than being in a normal classroom because you actually get to work on your own and it’s just like instructional,” said Katrina Fogel, 16, who along with Garcia publishes D-Town’s company newsletter.

“It is a virtual business so you can imagine that we are learning about how to manage our own business and how to work with other people from other businesses,” said 18-year-old Anthony Lopez, a senior who is D-Town’s finance assistant. “It also shows us about salesmanship because we sell cars and car parts and all that stuff.”

Asked what business would he open if he had a chance to, Lopez said he would open a sporting goods store because he loves sports. The class developed its own custom logo, a web site, various forms and a catalogue that are instrumental in running D-Town Whips.

Now in its second semester at , the Virtual Enterprise class will give future students a shot at developing their own virtual business. But for now, it’s all about D-town Whips.

Check out the video for footage from D-town’s open house held at Dixon High Thursday. Visit their web site to learn more at www.dtownwhips.com