Business Communications encompasses the basic elements of communication. In this course, emphasis will be placed on language arts and critical thinking skills that will enable the youth to write for different kinds of business situations as well as transfer these skills to writing activities in other subject areas. This will be divided into four content areas: Communication and Human Behavior, Language Skills, Written Communication (Compositional Skills), and Oral Communication. Writing and speaking are incorporated into each of the content units. our teens will be given numerous opportunities to demonstrate their oral communication skills and to improve these skills. They will also be given many opportunities to work in small group activities in which they will assume various roles in the group and then report to the whole group. Stress will also be placed on the development of conversational skills which will lead to more effective interaction with others.

Introduction to Visual Merchandising:

Introduction to Visual Merchandising presents an overview of visual merchandising, and introduces students to the various ways in which visual merchandising is used in business.

The student completing this course will demonstrate an understanding of:
· The vocabulary associated with visual merchandising
· Why visual merchandising is so important in today’s economy
· Trade organizations within the industry
· careers and fields related to visual merchandising.

This is a required course for all students planning to pursue a career major in Visual Merchandising.

 Marketing Lab

Description:

Marketing Lab is a practicum in which our youth learn all aspects of retail merchandising while working in a real, physical retail environment of a youth ran TMFF boutique. Teens, under the guidance of TMFF staff, operate the Fashion Boutique. They will explore retailing as they learn the responsibilities of managers, buyers, sales associates, stock and display persons, cashiers, gift wrappers, and clerical workers.

Our youth  assess the customer base in the community and determine what items to purchase. They then purchase these items in the wholesale market place. As our youth  go out to the wholesale market to do buying, they are forced to communicate with wholesalers by explaining the purpose of the Boutique. SThe youth make buying trips frequently and can selectively choose merchandise that their fellow peers  might buy. Should merchandise prove defective, the youth  must return them to the source to obtain an exchange.

 When our youth work in the Boutique, they will experience working cooperatively with other outh, employ customer service techniques, and calculate wholesale, retail, sales discounts, and general pricing techniques. Our teens will learn first hand what occurs in attempting to make a sale. They begin to understand the responsibilities involved in running a retail establishment, and learn what problems manufacturers and wholesalers must face in their respective places in the marketing systems. They will also become more astute in future buying decisions.