Business Courses

Prerequisite: None
Credits: 6

This fast-paced course introduces students to the fundamental principles and procedures of accounting. Students will develop financial analysis and decision-making skills that will assist them in future studies and/or career opportunities in business.

Students can take Accounting to:

• Gain background knowledge for running their own business
• Improve their investing knowledge
• Learn about taxes
• Get a head start on post-secondary study
• Learn how to use accounting software

Accounting students will:

• Become familiar with financial statements, International Financial Reporting Standards and how to prepare for the process of starting up a business
• Complete the accounting cycle for a service and merchandising business
• Complete transactions and procedures typically used by an individual or a business
• Apply specialized accounting procedures associated with buying and selling goods in a retail system
• Learn and demonstrate the use of an accounting software package for personal or business use

Highlights of the class include:

• Using industry software, such as Microsoft Excel and Sage 50
• Interacting with a guest speaker from the Chartered Professional Accountants - Alberta (CPA)

Prerequisite: None
Credits: 6

Entrepreneurship allows students the opportunity to open and operate a real company now. In this class, you can actually get paid and earn revenue from the business that you create. What other class offers you the opportunity to make money?

Students can take Entrepreneurship to:

• Open and run a real business in class
• Get paid while still in school
• Start the path to being their own boss
• Go on field trips to visit successful entrepreneurs in their place of business
• Learn from entrepreneurs who come in as guest speakers
• Improve their resume and heighten their hireability with evidence of their entrepreneurial skills and ability to "think outside the box"

Entrepreneurship students will:

• Create a business plan
• Start up their own companies (Junior Achievement companies)
• Sell shares to earn money to start up their companies
• Market/advertise their product or service
• Sell their product or service
• Dissolve the company and distribute the profits to shareholders

Students may be required to work in a team environment and use technology to complete assignments.

Prerequisite: None
Credits: 6

"If I slip on a sidewalk while jogging in a blizzard, can I sue the homeowner?"

"I bought a pair of jeans and wore them to the mall but then I decided I didn’t like them. Can I legally return them afterwards?"

"While walking home from school, a kid bullied me. He swore at me and threatened me. Can I charge him with assault?"

Legal Studies focuses on the legal system and the rights of individuals. Legal Studies is essential for students who plan to enter a business program at the post-secondary level or who hope to have a career in law.

Students can take Legal Studies to:

• Expand their knowledge of the Canadian Legal System
• Introduce themselves to a career in Law
• Learn how the law applies to real life using case studies
• Participate in a mock trial in a real courtroom at the University of Alberta
• Visit the court house and see law in action
• Hear from guest speakers who discuss their experience with the law, such as a crown prosecutor, corrections officer and/or an RCMP officer

Legal Studies students will examine:

• Workplace and consumer law, with a focus on basic rights and responsibilities at work
• The legal relationship between the government and the citizen ,with an emphasis on criminal law
• The criminal justice system, including the criminal process and the roles and responsibilities of the participants
• Challenging issues and law-related careers
• Laws affecting family members
• The issues and legal considerations that may arise when individuals travel domestically and internationally

Explore areas of the law, including:

• Private law
• Public law
• Family law
• Law and the traveler
• Criminal law
• Business and contract law

Prerequisite: None
Credits: 6

How do companies figure out who is most likely to buy their product/service? Why do companies choose a certain location for their business? How do companies decide whether to advertise on the radio, television, internet, in the newspaper, or a combination of all of them?

Students will learn and explore the fundamentals of retail marketing. The use of technology will be integrated into this course.

Students can take Marketing to:

• Understand how a company knows what products consumers are likely to buy
• Find out why products are located in certain parts of a store
• Learn how to sell goods and services
• Learn the best type of advertising to reach a variety of customers
• Put learning into practice using an online business simulation
• Use multimedia to make print, radio and television commercials
• Visit various local business to see how they use marketing, such as:
  • Freson Bros
  • Knighton Men's Wear
  • NOW Radio
  • Strong Coffee Marketing
  • Rogers' Place
• Learn from marketing specialists who come in as guest speakers

Marketing students will have the opportunity to:

• Use a virtual business simulation to operate a business
• Choose a company/product and create the elements of a marketing plan
• Create a merchandising display for their selected business
• Use Trimble Sketchup to design their storefront and interior
• Use Adobe Audition to create a radio advertisement
• Use Adobe Photoshop and CorelDRAW to create a print advertisement
• Learn how businesses use color, scent, lighting, and floor arrangement to increase sales
• Learn how to target their specific customer
• Use CorelDraw to create a logo for their company

Prerequisite: None
Credits: 5

The ability to use Office software is essential to many management and office positions. It is also very valuable for managing personal records for any entrepreneur or small business owner.

Most students think they know how to use this software, but are surprised of the power of spreadsheets, how little they know about databases, or how quick a mail merge can produce multiple individualized documents.

Learn the basics of:

• Spreadsheets
• Presentation software
• Databases
• Word processing

This course will focus on Microsoft Office and file management, but will also show the connections to Google software and incorporate some old school touch typing drills.

This is a must-have course for entering the work force or post secondary.