NEW BEDFORD — Three Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School students took home second place out of 72 teams in the Junior Achievement Titan Business Challenge at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on March 10. 

Old Colony students Jacob Andrews, Eric Hackett and Rochester native Kyle Wright were part of the winning team and were coached by Rachel O’Donnell of Milestone Mortgage Solutions and Old Colony coordinators Marsha Metivier and Ashleigh Mota-Medeiros. 

The business strategy competition had teams from 14 high schools compete in three rounds using an online, interactive business simulation game. Students also had the chance to attend leadership and strategy panels with businesspeople.  

Old Colony participated in the Titan Challenge for the first time this year, sending three teams of students. Though the school has a business technology program, the students who took on the challenge used afterschool time to prepare using the stimulation. 

Metivier said that all three Old Colony groups did well, but Wright, Hackett and Andrews “really gelled well together, and surprised themselves,” with the results of the competition. 

The trio had the highest score in the second and third rounds of the competition, a feat that Metivier attributed to keeping a close eye on all of their numbers and adjusting accordingly. Wright and his teammates will take home $750 in scholarship money. 

The teacher said that the competition was both challenging and fun for her students. 

“I couldn't be more proud of all the students,” Metivier said, adding that she and her students are “grateful to have had the opportunity to participate thanks to Junior Achievement.” 

As for the unexpected win, she said “It's always nice when [students] experience their hard work paying off.” 

Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts is a nonprofit that teaches students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 about how to be economically and academically successful now and in the future.