On Dec. 19-20, 2023, OHS marketing students set up stands in the hallway and sold ice cream to the school.

“The students make ice cream sales and each group has to create a different product, but the base has to be ice cream,” marketing teacher Amy Clark said. “[They] put their selling skills in class to real use.”

The marketers made small groups in their classes and went on to sell against the others.

“We have to compete against five other groups and try to sell the best ice cream,” Addison Marino (12) said. “The other groups have totally different types of ice cream and they have to sell that the most, while we’re trying to sell ours the most.”

The marketing program has put on this event for over a decade. Aside from just the main event, the students have a lot of work to do beforehand.

“They have to make advertisements and get them approved by Mrs. Czuppon. They’ve been getting together to make posters,” Clark said. “They have to figure out who is going to bring what supplies and figure out pricing and also how they are going to make a profit.”

The students get to take a lot from this, as they go through the process of making their own brand.

“[We learn] how to advertise and promote,” Lia McNulty (12) said, “and try to stand out in general.”

To simulate real-world marketing, each group has to make everything work on their own.  

“It’s all up to us. She (Clark) won’t do anything,” Marino said. “If we forget something, then it’s tough luck for us,”

The self-run nature of the event will hopefully help the students who want to pursue marketing as a career in their futures.

“I definitely want to go into business when I’m a little older, so it’s definitely helpful to have this class…” Marino said. “It just gives a real aspect to marketing and selling, and what you’d do in the future.”