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CEOs take over Barrington High School classrooms
Robert Fader, former project director for Citigroup, tells the Barrington High School Business Management class what makes a successful global business. His keys include adaptation and sensitivity to foreign cultures and customs. | Photo by Bridget O'Shea
Updated: October 28, 2012 6:22AM
BARRINGTON — Barrington High School has introduced a new program this year in which retired chief executive officers visit the school’s Business Management classes to give real world advice to students.
“What I like to do as a teacher is introduce them to the business possibilities out there,” explained Bill Bell, who teaches the high school’s Business Management class.
Barrington resident Bill Nurre, who is president of Claims Processing Facility and executive director for Eagle Picher Industries Personal Injury Settlement Trust, visited talked to students Sept. 18. He detailed the attributes that contribute to success, such as positive attitude, strong work ethic, attention to detail and motivation, among other factors.
Nurre also talked about relationships with other employees, and how being a team player is crucial to success.
“Typically, a person who tries to do things by themselves doesn’t do very well in a corporation,” Nurre said.
Bell said the idea for the program came from John Briggs, a Barrington resident and retired CEO who has led several companies and organizations. Briggs and several other CEOs eventually met with District 220 superintendant Tom Leonard to begin discussing the idea.
“So the program evolved, and now I think there’s growing interest,” said Bell, of his honors-level class that is designed for juniors and seniors who are interested in studying business in college.
Deer Park resident Robert Fader also addressed the business management students last week.
Fader, who was a project director at Citigroup before establishing a business consulting practice in 2004, talked about his experiences doing business in foreign countries and the importance of being aware of different cultures and customs.
“We thought maybe the things we’ve done could be beneficial to students as they plan their careers,” Fader said.
Bell said one of the goals of the new program is to teach the students how to look at business in a global context.
“The whole theme of the class is global business,” he said, explaining that the next session with CEOs will feature a panel discussion. The January program will call on local CEOs to present students with a case study of a real world problem they faced during their executive careers. Students have been assigned to present their case studies during a final session in April.
“It’s great to have these guys coming in and giving us real world experience,” said student Scotty Forster. “It’s a new perspective.”
Bell said although the program is new, it’s gotten off to a great start. He said one notable aspect of the program is that the executives coming to the school are all residents of Barrington and the surrounding area.
“There’s lots of business talent in Barrington,” Bell said. “We’re fortunate in that respect.”
