Pitt State SIFE team heading to nationals in Minneapolis

The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at Pittsburg State University rose to the top at their recent regional competition and will soon be headed to nationals in Minneapolis.

The team was one of 17 that competed regionally in Rogers, Ark., on March 11 and PSU was named one of eight teams that will advance to nationals. Approximately 120 teams will participate in nationals, May 10-12.

"Our presentation went extremely well. It was the best we'd given," said SIFE President Katie Aikins.

With the format completely different than what teams had been asked to do in the past, the PSU SIFE team revamped their projects this year to focus on one overall theme.

Their presentation included a discussion of their new Building Pittsburg project, which has three components -- Wise, Win, Work (a computer literacy program), A New Beginning (which addresses the lack of experience with resume writing and interviewing skills) and Dress for Success (aimed at helping job seekers learn about and obtain appropriate professional clothing).

The team also discussed its involvement in the communitywide Take Charge Challenge and its partnership with Westar Energy, which will send them into area classrooms to teach schoolchildren about energy conservation.

Aikins said that until the national competition in May, the team will continue to offer Building Pittsburg workshops for community members to help them prepare for job applications and interviews.

"Our structure had been drastically changed from last year so we had been a little concerned about that, but they must have liked what we did," Aikins said. "We got a lot of positive feedback."

For more information on the Building Pittsburg workshops, call SIFE at (620) 235-4596, or visit www.pittstate-sife.com.