LHS Junior Achievement Wins Company Of The Year

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School’s Junior Achievement entry – “Little Mountain Kitchen Creations” – was cited with Company of the Year accolades at the 2019 Chicagoland Junior Achievement competition, which recently was held at Robert Morris University’s downtown Chicago campus. The school said senior Matt Krueger and junior Max Celis also each earned top honors within their respective officer divisions.

The Little Mountain Kitchen Creations catalog featured a cutting board, a coaster set, and a bottle opener. Each could be customized with engravings of either the Lemont High School logo, the Village of Lemont logo, or a monogram of up to three letters, according to the school.

This marks the seventh time in 11 years Lemont’s entry has picked up Junior Achievement “Company of the Year” honors. The school said last year’s company – “LHS Publishing, Inc.” – won thanks to the success of its Lemont-centric cookbook, “What’s Cooking in Lemont?”

The officer team – which included Krueger, Celis, and seniors Joe Tomecki (President), Tobias Hagen (Supply Chain) and Natalie Palarz (Marketing) – represented “Little Mountain Kitchen Creations” at the Chicagoland area competition.

Each of the officers participated in a separate interview process to be considered for “Officer of the Year” accolades. The school said Krueger was cited as the Finance Officer of the Year for the second time in as many years, while Celis earned Customer Service Officer of the Year honors. Tomecki was the runner-up in his grouping.

Each year, Lemont’s Junior Achievement organization builds a business from scratch. Students form a board to create the product, sell stock in the company and market the product, all with a goal of reaping a dividend for its shareholders.

Lemont’s Junior Achievement faculty advisor is Business teacher John Aspel.