As Six Flags Great America in Gurnee prepared for the opening of their brand new roller coaster, “Goliath,” students at LC in Ms. Terri Budlove’s, Business, Advanced Business Management class were able to assist in the marketing process through their creation of original advertisements for the attraction.  Six Flags launched a contest open to high school students to submit commercials to showcase Goliath, and Rebecca Cordell (12), Patrick Delis (12), Matthew Shaw (12) and Robert Kelley (12), with assistance by Tyler Payne (12), created an ad that took first place in the contest.

“Last year we went to the Career Marketing Day at Six Flags that they host every year.  This was the first year that we were actually involved in a contest and I think it’s something new that they have at Six Flags.  They’ve always had the Marketing Day, but the contest is pretty new,” Ms. Budlove said.

On May 9, Ms. Budlove was able to bring her Principles of Business Management and Sports Marketing and Entertainment classes to the amusement park, in addition to the Advanced Business Management students, where the first place award was announced.

“The target market is teenagers and their goal was to highlight that Six Flags is opening a new wooden roller coaster called Goliath, and [Goliath] is breaking some world records because it’s supposed to be the tallest, fastest and steepest wooden roller coaster, and it actually inverts as well,” Ms. Budlove said.

The specific characteristics of the roller coaster was what the marketing department at Six Flags wished students to highlight in their commercials.

“Rebecca [Cordell] came up with the idea of having a classroom setting with everyone bored, then have me go crazy acting like I’m riding Goliath,” Patrick Delis (12) said, “I think the most challenging part of making the commercial was getting everyone together, helping us during a class period, because we had two other classes helping us.”

Mrs. Cyndi Hurley, Business, as well as Mr. Marty Freeman, Assistant Principal, helped in the effort to film the commercial in the LGI room.  During the awards at the park, everyone’s efforts toward the project proved successful.

“There were tons of schools there. I couldn’t even count [how many].  I know they showed three runner-up’s and then they had a third place, second place and then Lake Central was first place,” Ms. Budlove said.

For further details about the attraction, see http://content.sixflags.com/comingin2014/greatamerica/goliath/.