Sports and Entertainment Marketing has become a hot a career area and several students at Blacksburg High School are getting an early start on this career path.

"We started the program here at Blacksburg in 2001," said Kim Radford, who teaches the Sports and Internet Marketing classes. She is assisted by Cindy Mitchell, who teaches Marketing and Fashion Marketing.

Sports Marketing is also offered at Eastern Montgomery and Christiansburg High Schools.

The sports marketing program is two-tiered: the first year is a fundamentals course that focuses on project-based learning; the second-year students use the fundamentals learned and apply those concepts in our student-run business called "The Bear Necessities". It is the school's spirit wear store. Students interview for different positions within the company and maintain these positions throughout the year. The students are "in charge" of all decision-making (with advising Radford) and they are assigned specific tasks that together help accomplish the business' goals.

All BHS Marketing programs utilize "hands-on" teaching methods to engage students and prepare them with skills they can take on to college and/or the workforce

"We initially wanted to offer the program to build spirit within the school and community. This program has really taken off within the nation, as Sports & Entertainment Marketing has become hot career areas," said Radford. "Many universities now offer Sports Marketing/Management undergraduate and graduate programs. We now offer dual-enrollment credit with New River Community College for those students who complete the two-year curriculum."

"This experience can set them apart when applying for jobs and admission to colleges. We really love what we do as teachers, and we appreciate the support we receive from our school division and the community," Radford further added.

In addition to the business, the students support school-sponsored athletic events by promoting spirit buses to away games, assisting with pep rallies and managing specific sports events like the upcoming Austin Cloyd Memorial Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Sports Marketing classes at Blacksburg consist of first year students that can be a sophomore, juniors and/or seniors. Second-year students have completed the first year class and are then in charge of the business. These are typically juniors and seniors.

Over the years, the program has won several major awards and achieved some major accomplishments. "For the last four years, Advanced Sports Marketing students have gained Gold Level store status (the highest rank possible) from National DECA. To achieve this, we must document all of the activities for running our business, "The Bear Necessities." This requires examination of marketing practices, inventory control, vendor selection and ordering, employee management and merchandise sales. I'm very proud of this as there are many schools who do not repeat at the Gold Level--we have for the past four years," Radford stated.

One of the big projects that the class undertook came during football this season. Where the students raised over $10,000 for the "Support Kendall Project." Kendall Bayne is a sophomore at Cave Spring High School and was diagnosed with cancer.

"A student here at BHS named Hailey Porth introduced this project to me and I knew we had to help. We set the goal of raising $8,500 in one week for Kendall's surgery at the end of October," noted Radford. "Our students went above and beyond expectations and ended up raising over $10,000 in one short week. We raised it by selling "Team Kendall" t-shirts and "We Love Kendall" wristbands to students, faculty, and community members. Many generous people in our community also donated to the cause."

Another project that the students undertake is the Annual Austin Cloyd Memorial Basketball Tournament. Cloyd, a former BHS student and member of the girls’ basketball team who lost her life in the Virginia Tech tragedy on April 16, 2007.

"Using the Sports Management model for our business, we provide marketing, public relations, sponsorship, event operations and merchandise management for the entire event. The Girls Basketball coach selects the teams who will participate in the tournament and contacts the coaches to set up the games. We do the rest," added Radford. "It has been a wonderful project for my students as event management is part of our class curriculum. So, instead of doing some imaginary project, we get to do the "real thing". Typically, we raise at least $2,500 in sponsorship money to help cover the costs of running the tournament."

In addition to the active learning in the classroom, the students have the opportunity to compete at district, state and national levels through the school's DECA club. They can also participate in meaningful service projects for the community like Home for the Holidays, The Cinderella Project and Purple Power Day (Kendall Bayne).