United Way of Morris County Events
Past Events

Randolph High School Students Win Deloitte & Touche’s Virtual Team Challenge for High Schools, Earn Money for United Way of Morris County
Monday, December 10, 2007

The Virtual Team Challenge (VTC) is a program that Deloitte launched in high schools across the country to teach students about business and help them develop the skills necessary to be successful in professional services.  The VTC presents an opportunity for high school students to confront real world business issues in an entertaining virtual world, similar to the popular PC game "The Sims".  Working in teams of four and competing against groups in their class, school and across the country, participants acted as an event production company staging a community festival to raise money for United Way.

The game's objective was to produce a fundraising event that raised the most "virtual" money for United Way's "Operation Graduation" campaign which is a program dedicated to encouraging young people to stay in school.  Operation Graduation promotes youth development through quality, accessible after-school and summer programming, mentoring and tutoring.   

Led by Honors Accounting II teacher Mrs. Lisa Holloway, Randolph High School students learned about four key professional platforms–Business, Ethics, Money, and Decision-Making–over a four-week period.  To put on the virtual festival, students researched and hired vendors to provide food, fireworks, DJs, and even port-a-potties!

From a pool of over 2,000 high school students and 100 high schools across the country, Randolph High School fielded two of the seven winning teams.  Joelle Libman, Katie Mattaliano, Kathleen Naddaff, and Tara Paccagnini; and Nina Brigando, Manisha Hukku, Cara Jeffrey, and Allison Richards were members of the winning teams.

At the award ceremony at Randolph High School on December 10, 2007, Deloitte representatives presented each young woman with a certificate of achievement.  Students were also able to give feedback about their experiences with the VTC to Deloitte representatives.  The winning teams each received a $500 grant for the school and a $1,000 check to be donated to United Way of Morris County.  

United Way of Morris County CEO John Franklin was on hand to thank the students for their hard work and encourage them to get involved in philanthropy.  United Way of Morris County's Youth Council, a community service organization run by high school students, will designate the award money to a cause of their choosing.  For more information on Youth Council, email Diane Kaminskas, or phone 973.993.1160, x100.