Photo by Crystal Reed
Mackenzie Wright, a student at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond High School, holds a few of her candles from her business Moonlit Sky Candles during the Illini Prairie CEO Trade Show held last Wednesday.

•May 19, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Illini Prairie CEO class showcased their businesses during a trade show last Wednesday at Arcola High School. This year’s class had 13 students from the school communities of ALAH, Tuscola, Arcola and Sullivan that participated in this year’s course.
“CEO” stands for Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities. It is a year-long, experientially learning based course, designed to utilize partnership in the community to provide an overview of business processes and development.
Throughout the program year students have visited local businesses, heard from guest speakers, participated in operating a class business, written a business plan and from concept to reality built their own legal, functioning entity.
Mackenzie Wright, 16, a student at Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond is one of the students showcasing their business during the trade show. Her business is called Moonlit Sky Candles.
She makes and sells organic soy wax candles and wax melts. “I’ve always been really creative, and when it came to picking a business to do, I thought that I’ve never done candles before,” she said.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.