Daring to Dream
Students Showcase Entrepreneurial Spirit in Business Pitch Program
Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
The Glockner Dare to Dream high school regional business pitch competition is underway! This annual event is held at Shawnee State University and provides area high school students with the opportunity to create a business idea and pitch it to a panel of judges for the chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money.
Prize money is divided equally among the winning team members and can be used on anything their hearts desire. This is a great way for local high school students to experience what being entrepreneurs is all about and encourages them to think outside the box and realize their ideas can be brought to life with hard work, dedication and discipline.
The Dare to Dream High School Pitch Competition will be celebrating its 11th year March 5 at 5 p.m. This year’s Glockner Dare to Dream Competition will be hosted by Shawnee State University inside the iconic Kricker Innovation Hub, which is a landmark facility that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.
The competition is open to the following counties in within the Tristate area: In the state of Ohio- Lawrence, Scioto, Pike, Gallia, Adams and Jackson counties. In the state of Kentucky- Lawrence, Boyd, Greenup and Carter counties. In the state of West Virginia- Wayne and Cabell counties.
Student groups consist of no less than three and no more than five members. Together, they come up with a business model to successfully pitch before a panel of judges. Each group’s presentation is limited to just five members, and rules states that every group member must participate in the presentation. The group must also include a Power Point with their presentation. At the end of the presentation, the panel of judges has five minutes to ask questions before they move on to the next team’s presentation. Once all student presentations have been made, the panel of judges will then go to deliberate and come to an agreement on who will advance to the next stage of the competition.
Last week, students in Boyd County High School’s FBLA program had the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to the esteem panel of judges during the first stage of the competition in hopes of earning the privilege to move on to the final stage of competition. Boyd County High School’s Business teacher, Logan Wallace, got started in the Dare to Dream program last year and decided to bring the opportunity to the students. Wallace shared, “It’s so much fun to see how their ideas flourish into successful businesses. I am just very proud of all the students and how much they put into their pitches. “
April Perry, CEO and Chair of Kentucky Farmers Bank, is also the Lead Judge for the Glockner Dare to Dream High School Regional Pitch Competition and has been involved with the program for 12 years. Perry shed light on the program, “I think this program is great for the students because it teaches them to solve problems. We tell them to find a problem and try and come up with a solution to solve it.”
In addition to problem sharing, Perry went on to add, “It also teaches them that they can take their ideas and turn it into something that they can go out and make money with. This hopefully encourages them that they can go out and create a new business and have it become successful. I think the Dare to Dream High School Pitch Competition is great for our community because we need small businesses. It’s the small businesses that are really the heart of our local community, and so these students learning how to take problems and develop solutions and then monetize them is just really great for our communities.”
Six teams competed from Boyd County High School in the hopes of advancing to the final round, but only two teams could move on. Parker Gibson, Chase Queen, Bryce Lemaster, and JK McKnight were the first team chosen to advance to the finals. They came up with a clever way to help college students pick the best roommate possible with their app called Roomie. Users of the Roomie app would be able to complete a short profile of questions that would help them be paired with potential roommates who share the same interests.
The second team from Boyd County to make it through to compete in the finals were called Over Again. Hallie Barnett, Taylor Bartrum, Faith Burnside, Holly Marcum, and Alex Martin came up with a unique way to turn trash into cash by recycling old pop cans and turning them into delicious smelling candles. In addition to candles, the group also found a way to make coasters from trees that had either fallen or lost large branches.
An alternate group was also chosen. The group consisted of Jacob Vanover, Jason Ellis, Audrey Biggs, Haleigh Steele and Natalee Ruggles. They came up with a really cool way to offer students at BCHS an alternative to unhealthy drinks such as soda pop. The group started a smoothie making business called The Mixer- Smoothies and had already received an overwhelmingly positive response from the students.
Boyd County High School’s winning teams will advance to the finals March 5 where they will have one last chance to perfect their presentations in the hopes of being this year’s Dare to Dream winner.
