For Graceland University student Kasey Johnson, the 2005-2006 school year was not only filled with classes, exams and papers, but also late nights working on the start-up phase of a biodiesel plant, a nationwide anti-piracy effort and dozens of other projects and presentations, including work in Costa Rica, that eventually earned her and her teammates from the school’s Students in Free Enterprise chapter the title of national champion.

“It’s probably the most important thing I’ve done in my life,” said Johnson, a Valley High School graduate who will be a junior this fall at Graceland, majoring in cinema studies and communications. “Everyone wishes we could major in SIFE.”

She is one of 86 Graceland students – representing nearly 10 percent of the student body and 21 different majors – who participate in the SIFE chapter, which was established 17 years ago. The team captured first place at the organization’s national competition in May, earning them a spot on a Kellogg’s corn flakes box, and are now preparing for September’s SIFE World Cup, which will be held in Paris, where the team will represent the United States and compete against teams from 46 other countries for the title of world champion.

About 500 teams from colleges and universities around the country competed in regional competitions – Graceland traveled to Dallas – and about 160 teams qualified for the national competition in Kansas City. Each competition required the school’s presentation team, of which Johnson was a member, to give a 24-minute presentation to a panel of judges, all CEOs from across the country. The groups provided evidence of the projects they completed throughout the year and the measurable results accomplished through each.

Perhaps Graceland’s most far-reaching project was a joint effort between the university’s chapter and the Motion Picture Association of America. The students partnered with the MPAA to sponsor a nationwide competition between other SIFE schools, which created public service announcements related to film piracy. The PSAs were broadcast on television stations across the country.

“It ended up reaching millions of people,” said Andy Simpson, Graceland’s faculty SIFE sponsor and director of the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.

The focus of the chapter’s entrepreneurial efforts over the past year has been through its partnership with Lamoni-based Southern Iowa BioEnergy LLC. Graceland SIFE students conducted a study to determine the feasibility of a biodiesel plant in Lamoni, which is home to Graceland. The company recently received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin raising money to build the plant. In addition, some chemistry students conducted research regarding possible uses for a byproduct of biodiesel.

“Biodiesel will be a huge change for this community and they had a role in getting some of this started,” Simpson said.

In January, some of Graceland’s SIFE participants traveled to Costa Rica, where they worked on Web site development with some small business owners and helped the developers of a planned coastal resort write a business plan. The group also visited several English-speaking schools to teach currency and trade through Where in the World, a game the students created and have introduced to more than 1,000 students.

“The catch phrase of SIFE is ‘Changing the world,'” Simpson said. “These students, from a small town in Iowa, can see their global reach and global impact.”

Of the 28 projects Graceland SIFE students completed during the 2005-2006 school year, Simpson expects at least 10 or 15 to continue in some form or another. The team will continue its work with the MPAA, and the anti-piracy campaign may expand internationally, and he said the international competition in Paris could serve as a launching pad for that effort. The group has also had discussions with the Recording Industry Association of America about conducting a similar project for that industry.

SIFE has presented these students with opportunities to expand their educational experience and travel throughout the country and the world. But it has also presented opportunities for life after college. Simpson said multiple job and internship opportunities have emerged for students through the regional and national competitions. Johnson received three or four internship offers over the past two months.

“Any company that sees what Graceland SIFE does, you could probably get an internship with them,” she said.