Spring Lake Park challenged their business students with a program that imitates the popular TV show “Shark Tank.” 24 teams took the challenge and only 5 teams made it to the finals where they were judged by a panel of five notable community members.
Students are given the chance to develop their own business ideas and pitch them to a panel of judges, who provide feedback and guidance – Just like the “Shark Tank” TV series. It also helps students develop critical thinking skills and fosters a sense of innovation and creativity. It also helps students understand the realities of starting and running a business, including the challenges and obstacles that entrepreneurs often face.
Many students elected to create theoretical products like phone apps that could help young people save money and scheduling time with friends and family. While others created physical products like sports utility bags, a bracelet that could track your whereabouts and even pants that could charge your electronics.
Only one team could come top and it was unanimous decision among the judges who chose the product “Brace Alert.” They chose the product because if its applicability to todays world where kidnappings and human trafficking have become a huge topic of interest.
The product itself is a type of tracking device that is in a lot of ways similar to ankle monitors that track track their wearers movements. The product, in theory, would be able to track their wearers whereabouts and be able to send distress signals if needed – Making them a viable option to track someone if need be.
It wasn’t just about winning, business educator Sarah Welken was excited to many of her students grow and come out of their shells over the course of the semester.
“At the beginning of the trimester a lot of them are very nervous, which is natural. But as time goes on the get more confident in what they are doing and what they are saying. It was a lot of fun to see that growth,” said Welken.
