Beginning next year, IB Business and Management will be offered as a one-year course open to juniors and seniors. The class, led by AVID and Psychology teacher David Weyant, will be a part of the Social Studies Department and cover topics ranging from finance to marketing.

“It gives students another choice in electives, which is huge, and it teaches you about marketing and management, which are important in any kind of business,” Weyant said.
According to the course outline, topics will include business organization, business environment, human resource management, marketing, operations management, finance and accounts.

“I’ve been interested in business for a while, so this class will be an opportunity to be able to learn the terminology [of business]. Those connections are what I’m really looking for,” said junior Xavi Boluña, who plans on pursuing a career in business.

Sequoia recently decided to add Business and Management, which is already offered in numerous IB schools across the world, to encourage a wider range of students to take IB classes. With around 100 students already signed up, it is projected to be a popular and relevant class that will appeal to a variety of students. According to the Institute of Education Sciences, over 367,000 students graduate with majors in business a year, making it one of the most popular majors offered in colleges.

“It’s a great fit for our school,” IB Coordinator Lisa McCahon said. “Being a school in the Silicon Valley, we have a plethora of businesses to connect with through this class, and I think this course embodies what the local business community is all about.”

For Weyant, teaching this course will be an opportunity to explore and deepen his knowledge of personnel and marketing. Weyant, the teacher of a freshman BUILD class in which students work in teams to create businesses, has had experience dealing with finance at Wells Fargo bank and as a manager of multiple branches of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Business and management are subjects he wishes to get students interested in as well.

“We live in an area where there [are] startups and an overall entrepreneurial spirit, so I think [this class] will relate really well to what we have around us. It’s very appropriate and fitting, and I’m excited to teach it,” Weyant said.

Business and Management will incorporate many aspects of actual business world situations into the curriculum and assessments. The internal assessment is made up of a research project and a written commentary, both requiring students to study real world business situations and organizations.

“Application of concepts is what really is interesting to me,” Boluña said. “Seeing the application, what the effects are—that’s what I’m excited about going into this class.”