TWU SIFE Team Heads To Nationals

5/7/04

DENTON — The Texas Woman’s University Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team has qualified for the 2004 SIFE USA National Exposition, to be held in Kansas City, Mo., May 23-25. This is the fourth time a TWU team has advanced to national competition.

The team qualified for nationals after winning regional championships April 8 in Dallas, their fourth regional win in the past five years. “We are at the point where other university professors send some of their team members in to watch us because we have set a benchmark,” said Sherrie Taylor, TWU School of Management instructor and SIFE advisor.

TWU team members are Andrea Wensowitch of Ennis, Judylynn Nooyen of Eugene, Ore., Nina Trofimova of Gainesville, Mitzi Kingma of Grangeville, Idaho, Andrew Dartt of Denton, Brittanie Graswich of Trophy Club and Briza Alvardo of El Paso.

During national competition, more than 180 SIFE teams will each present a 24-minute multi-media summary of their educational outreach projects they developed and implemented throughout the year. Panels drawn from more than 200 of the nation’s top businesses and community leaders will judge teams.

The TWU team’s outreach projects included working with the Young Entrepreneurs Club operating the school store at Denton ISD’s Strickland Middle School, and working with residents at Good Samaritan Retirement Center in Denton about senior fraud awareness.
“These students have shown an exceptional level of dedication and hard work outside the classroom,” said Taylor. “Their efforts made TWU really stand out at the regional competition in Dallas.”

Along with Taylor, Dr. David Rylander serves as an advisor to the SIFE team. Both TWU instructors are Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellows.

Founded in 1975 and active on more than 1,500 college and university campuses in 37 countries, SIFE is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with business and higher education to provide students the opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching principles of free enterprise.

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For Further Information Contact:

Roy Kron
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: rkron@twu.edu