La Salle session
TROY, N.Y.>> A La Salle Institute classroom welcomed visitors from a Canada-based company on Thursday for a collaborative work session.
President Nathalie Laflamme and marketing director Sonia Rose of La Flamme de L’espoir in Quebec traveled to Troy to meet with students in instructor Mike Levy’s Advanced Marketing Class about a partnership.
La Flamme de L’espoir, or “The Flame of Hope,” produces and sells exclusively designed candles, with a portion of revenues going to social causes, awareness causes and organizations that fight against disease or have social missions.
Laflamme, a longtime entrepreneur, shared with the class about how and why she started La Flamme de L’espoir: to share hope. She went on to tell the students about her vision for business going forward, in hopes that they will be able to help her reach those goals.
Over the last four years, Levy’s classes have helped more than 20 companies, providing marketing services for several local small businesses like The Palace Theater, Sunmark Federal Credit Union, Barkeater Chocolates, and others far away like Slawse in North Carolina and Marlborough of England.
“Everything we do here is real world,” Levy said, noting that this makes the program unique for the high school level.
Instead of conducting projects around fictional companies, Levy has his students work with actual companies from all around the world and create real marketing campaigns for them.
This in turn generates real profit for the companies that work with La Salle Institute.
“They recognize the opportunity that’s available to them by working with us,” Levy said.
Laflamme, for one, is happy to have the opportunity for her company to engage with the local class. “I’m sure we will do nice collaboration together,” she said. During Thursday’s class period, the students spoke with their client about potential expansion, new packaging and hosting an event to promote La Flamme de L’espoir.
“I think we could really break the door open in America with all of this,” said La Salle Institute senior Andrew Nicholas, who would like to pursue a career in business and marketing after school.
La Flamme de L’espoir currently does business in Canada only, but would like to spread their message of hope in America and Europe as well.
Now, it is the the duty of the local Advanced Marketing Class, a senior honors class at the private college preparatory school, to help make that happen. As the semester goes on, students will keep in contact with Laflamme and Rose to work on making La Flamme de L’espoir and international endeavor.
Levy is confident that his students will be successful in doing so. We’re going to help them grow,” he said.
Each school year Levy is impressed what his new group of students is capable of doing, and this year’’s bunch is no exception. “They’re a great group of kids that show that they have tremendous drive and initiative. They’re creative. They’re insightful,” he said, “so it really makes a difference.”