By Vera Woodson and Kellen Scott
October 10, 2018

The buzz around South County High School is that Miss Scott’s room is where marketing magic happens every day. When approached by corporate company Complex in partnership with George Mason University, the buzz began. The students were challenged to create a marketing and solutions-based project to market the process of honey extraction from honey harvested from bee hives at the I-95 landfill complex. 

In a Shark Tank-like competition, the students strategically planned to present their ideas to complex manager Eric Forbes and George Mason’s German Perilla. The competition was a very intense work-based learning simulation. Students presented cross-curricular findings in environmental engineering, health and wellness, sustainable growth, and urban planning. The multi-layered project design was created by instructor Miss Kellen Scott to embrace the understanding through the FCPS Portrait of a Graduate standards which include student goals:  Communicator, Global and Ethical Citizen, Collaborator, Creative and Critical Thinker, and Goal-Directed and Resilient individual.

Eighteen teams competed in the program to design a logo, mission statement, brand promise, create and execute a social media platform, and public relations campaign. The teams were narrowed down to six finalists. The selection was so rigorous the judges couldn’t narrow the winners to one group. They selected several ideas from all of the finalists and are currently working to implement the comprehensive plans with the bourgeoning young entrepreneurs.