Paloma Guzman
OXNARD — Oxnard High School senior Paloma Guzman is preparing for the next round of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Business Competition in May in Los Angeles, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme reported in a media release.
Guzman won first place in the Dec. 13.
When creating the unique and personalized cake pops, Paloma prioritized customer service.
“With Blissful Cake Pops, everything is baked to order from scratch to guarantee freshness,” Guzman stated in a media release. “Every cake pop is hand-decorated, wrapped and tied with a ribbon to match your event.”
The Youth NFTE program is an after-school program at BGCOP that provides business and entrepreneurship classes to students who are interested in launching a business.
“Students receive up to 40 hours of instruction in a business environment, write up business plans for their business and actually set it up,” NFTE advisor Evelina Ochoa stated in the release. “Students get the chance to find out if their business venture is profitable or not.”
When Guzman started attending NFTE workshops in October, she was a shy, quiet student who was embarrassed to talk in front of others. Over the course of two months, she refined her presentation skills and did an exceptional job during her presentation in the competition, Ochoa said.
Guzman, 17, recently was named the BGCOP 2013 Youth of the Year and has been a Club member for five years. Before moving to Oxnard, she had lived in six states with her mother and sister. Her mother encouraged her to join the club, but she was nervous about starting over in a new place. It took a while, but Guzman slowly got more involved in the Martin V. Smith Center Clubhouse, especially with the Club’s Keystone group, a leadership group that focuses on academic success, career preparation and community service, allowing older members to serve as peer leaders to younger members. She has been president of the Keystone group for the past two years and has served more than 200 hours of community service.
The NFTE program is comprised of 12 high school seniors who attend Channel Islands, Pacifica, Oxnard, Hueneme or Frontier high school. NFTE is available at the Harriet H. Samuelsson Branch on 7th Street.
About the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme:
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme exists to inspire and enable all young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. With three full-service clubs, 18 school program sites and one housing site, the organization is one of the largest of its kind in California, serving 9,000 members annually. The group is also the first Boys & Girls Club of its kind to open a site inside a Juvenile Justice Center in the state of California. Program areas offered to youth include character and leadership development, education and career development, health and life skills, the arts, technology and sports, fitness and recreation. For more information, visit www.positiveplace4kids.org