Yorba Linda High School, like many other schools, offers pathways–specialized classes of learning to grow specific skills. YLHS offers two: the Culinary Academy, and the Business Academy. Both are amazing options that offer a wide variety of skills, including everything from how to bake pizza to how to manage your credit score.
While culinary may sound more exciting with the baking and cooking and free food you make yourself, it’s important not to rule out the Mustang Business Academy too fast.
The MBA is a three-year program that takes students through the basics of business, through business technology and communication, all the way to managing the school’s very own student-run Mustang Market. It’s a series of classes that will fuel students with the necessary information to not only run a business, but also succeed in the future when credit, taxes, and “adulting” come into play.
The pathway starts with Intro to Business, taught by Jill Romero (S). Mrs. Romero started out in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry “for over 11 years in various positions that ranged from scientist, biotechnology product marketing manager to business consultant.” Transferring this advanced set of skills into becoming a teacher was a decision Romero realized was important for her, as she “wanted to encourage the next generation to pursue their hopes and passions.”
Romero teaches the Intro class for the Business Academy pathway, and she explains that it is focused mainly on general business knowledge. A business class may seem daunting and different at first, as most students are used to taking standard math, english, history, science, and so forth. However, that just means students “all start at the same business acumen level. We’re all starting from the ground up together,” Romero explains.
In the second level of the Business Academy, students transfer over to the Business Technology and Communications class with Madison Waltemeyer (S), who covers the last two classes of the Academy.
Similarly, Waltemeyer didn’t start out as a teacher either. She knew she wanted to go into business and pursued human psychology and English in college, but felt that she wasn’t “giving back to [her] community.” Waltemeyer explains that “I realized that was a huge core value of mine … It goes back to self awareness. You need to know yourself enough to see if this college is a good fit, if this business environment is a good fit, if this job is a good fit, whatever it is.”
The Communications and Technology class hones in on more specifics and technicalities, including business writing, format, and credit. The class comes with an abundance of hands-on learning and team building, creating strong bonds and a confidence in business communications.
Ms. Waltemeyer strives to be a positive figure while teaching and prides in the class’ versatility. Even if students don’t want to become entrepreneurs or own their own businesses, “career technical education, CTE, is the perfect opportunity that blends both advanced kiddos and kids who maybe don’t want to start a business or go straight to a university, so it gets a mix of both personalities.”
Waltemeyer also teaches the third level of the Academy where students move beyond learning and start applying. They learn to manage their own business through the Mustang Market, an entirely student-run stand selling school merch and items.
Waltemeyer truly is passionate for her students and preparing them for their futures, describing that they’re “going to have to work with people. And business is all about people. People are not just numbers, there’s always something behind the number. So that’s why CTE, that’s why business is important and that’s why the academy, I’m so passionate about it. I feel like I’m not just preparing you guys for right now, I’m preparing you for hard topics that we don’t always think about when we’re 16, 17, even 18.”
That’s the importance of the Business Academy. It might not be as exciting-sounding as culinary, but it chocks students full of information and skills and knowledge that will help them immensely in the future. All the little mundane things like notes and vocabulary and calculations all amount to a larger goal that is these students’ careers.
So to all those wary students who are unsure if they want to join business or just don’t know what it entails, Mrs. Waltemeyer ensures that there truly is something for everyone, as “these skills are life skills that are transferable across any industry … You don’t have to be in the driver seat, but you’re going to want to know how the driver drives.”
Don’t be afraid to get in the car. Embrace the challenge and learn something new. Your future self will thank you.
