District 300 students design collar for First Dog

As President-elect Barack Obama vets candidates for his cabinet, his daughters, Malia and Sasha, may have to make an equally difficult choice.

Teams of business students at Community Unit District 300's three high schools are competing to design a collar for the first family's dog.

At his election night rally in Grant Park, Obama told his daughters, "You have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House," touching off a flurry of speculation over which breed the first family would choose.

District 300 business students hope the Obama girls will outfit their new pet in one of the collars designed by the students and produced by Chicago-based pet apparel firm Urban Hund.

Urban Hund and District 300 business teachers view the project as a real-world lesson in design and marketing as well as a chance for students to be a small part of Chicago history.

"What better way to do this than to bring a piece of Chicago to the White House?" said Kelly Gerst, who runs Urban Hund with her husband, Tom.

Eleven teams from Jacobs and Hampshire high schools presented their business plans Friday at Jacobs in a competition modeled after the NBC series, "The Apprentice." Dundee-Crown students will submit their videotaped presentations separately.

Each team presented the design and marketing for its collar, even discussing such details as the manufacturing process, customer base and wholesale versus resale prices.

Many of the designs took inspiration from the Chicago skyline, the American flag and Obama's message of change.

Among the designs were a collar labeled "Top Dog in the White House" and a sports-themed collar created to appeal to Malia and Sasha's interest in sports.

Students are voting on the best design and presentation, but Urban Hund wants all the students to get a shot at designing the First Dog's collar and plans to present all the ideas to Malia and Sasha.

"What better way to learn business than by actually applying it?" Jacobs business teacher Alyson Cohen said.

Students said the task, which they were given 48 hours to complete, was challenging but rewarding.

"We could have used just a little more time," said Hampshire senior Antoniu Achim, whose team designed the "Obarka" collar. "It's a good opportunity to meet someone in business."

Achim's teammate, Hampshire junior Ernesto Aranda, said the challenge was fitting several design elements onto a small dog collar.

"I liked designing it," Aranda said. "It was pretty intense getting all that in there."