Explore ABFIB

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    ABFIB offers many opportunities to apply the materials taught in the classroom to the real world through competitions, clubs, and internships. The following are business-oriented organizations offered at BCA.
    Competition Organizations

    DECA

    The Distributive Education Clubs of America is an international association of high school students, college students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in the business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service fields. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs from international high schools and colleges for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA members from the BCA chapter regularly win top awards at the regional, state, and international levels.

    DECA is a business club, exclusively for BCA students in ABFIB. It is not mandatory for ABFIB students, though the majority of students choose to participate.

    DecaGroup 2

    Above, members of DECA pose at the 2014 State Conference
    BCA’s Fed Challenge team took first place in 2013 High School Fed Challenge competition.

    FedChallenge

    Federal Reserve Challenge

    The High School Fed Challenge is a competition designed to bring real-world 

    economics into the classroom. Teams play the role of monetary policymakers by analyzing current economic conditions and recommending a course for monetary policy. The New York Fed sponsors and hosts this competition for high school teams in the Federal Reserve's Second District.   

    Euro Challenge

    Euro Challenge is an opportunity for high school students to learn about the European Union (EU) and the euro. Student teams of three to five students are asked to make presentations answering specific questions about the European economy and the euro. They are also asked to pick one member country of the “euro area” to examine an economic problem at the country level, and to identify policies for responding to that problem.

    Entrepreneur Organization

    BCAMart

    BCAMart is BCA’s only student-led and operated business and is the official school store of the Bergen County Academies. It is open during school days from 1:30 – 4:10 in the first floor cafeteria. A variety of products, including food, drinks, clothing, and school supplies, are sold there.

    Internships

    As part of the Academy experience, all seniors devote Wednesdays to a yearlong individualized internship experience. The following are some of the organizations at which ABFIB students have interned:

    • BoA Merrill Lynch
    • Federal Reserve Bank of New York
    • Ernst & Young LLP
    • Wrightson ICAP
    • UBS
    • Bloomberg
    • Deutsche Bank
    • Panasonic

    Global Experience

    Every November, ABFIB juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to travel abroad, either to London or to an East Asian country. This program, newly-launched in November 2014, will offer students an international educational experience. The trip is designed to touch upon four themes: Corporate Visits; Creative, Action and Service hours required by IB (known as CAS hours); Global Education; and Cultural Experiences.   

    Career Day

    Every year, a Career Day is held during which students can interact with professionals in the business field, as well as gain insight into different business paths and opportunities that they might be interested in pursuing in the future.

    A mentor talks to a group of ABFIB students during the annual Career Day.

    Bloomberg Terminal

    Our dedicated Bloomberg workstation provides our students with the opportunity to do independent financial markets analysis and research. The option to earn a Bloomberg Certification is also available through tutorials. BCA is one of the few high schools in the country to have access to this technology.