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CHS students enter the shark tank
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School students, from left, Anthony Longo, Alyssa Cross and Lauren Slanker spoke about and demonstrated their product, E-Z Strainer, during their Shark Tank presentation in Sherry Creighton’s Introduction to Business Course on Jan. 8.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Shark Tank winners were Canfield High School students, from left, Anthony Longo, Lauren Slanker, Alyssa Cross, Julia Petrallo, Vince Augustinelli and Ashley Kaleel took top honors during their Shark Tank presentations in Sherry Creighton’s Introduction to Business Course on Jan. 8. Longo, Slanker and Cross were awarded best product for their E-Z Strainer, while Petrallo, Augustinelli and Kaleel were awarded best presentation for their Strawberry Dips.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School student Sterling Roberts gave the judges a closer look at his group’s product, The Open Faced Water Bottle, during his Shark Tank presentation in Sherry Creighton’s Introduction to Business Course Jan. 8.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School students, from left, Casey Stanislaw, Alex Shaer and Zack Manteghi created the Carry Ferry as their product to pitch during their Shark Tank presentation in Sherry Creighton’s Introduction to Business Course on Jan. 8.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield High School students in Sherry Creighton’s Introduction to Business course jumped right in to swim with the sharks during their Shark Tank presentations on Jan. 8. The students have been learning about entrepreneurship through the Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley JA Be Entrepreneurial program.
The JA Be Entrepreneurial program introduces students to the essential elements of a practical business plan and challenges them to start an entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. Students learned about advertising, competitive advantages, financing, marketing and product development with local business mentors teaching the Junior Achievement lessons.
This program was made possible through a grant to Junior Achievement from The Burton D. Morgan Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to champion the entrepreneurial spirit with a vision of a free enterprise society that supports entrepreneurship and cultivates economically independent citizens who contribute to the improvement of their communities.
The groups of students presented their product ideas to a panel of judges from the business community, including Jack Scott of Applied Systems and Technology Transfer (AST2), Julie Smith of Applied Systems and Technology Transfer (AST2), Camille Farve of Seven Seventeen Credit Union and Jacob Powell of HD Davis CPA.
Each group presented a Power Point presentation, which included such specifics as product description, product pricing/cost, target audience, need met by product, competitive advantage/competitors and a sketch of their product. The students also had a prototype of their product to show the judges. Each student was responsible for a part of the presentation and demonstration of their product. Each group also had a tagline to close their presentation.
The students pitched such products as the Pocket Foot Warmer, Travelpac, Open Faced Water Bottle, E-Z Pack, Easy Strainer, Carry Ferry and Strawberry Dips.
The Pocket Foot Warmer was designed to be put in boots to help keep feet warm, while the Travelpac was pitched as an easy way to carry water in a backpack while hiking or running a marathon. The Open Faced Water Bottle was designed as a no-spill container with a straw and the E-Z Pack was a small suitcase with dividers to help keep people organized when packing for a trip. The E-Z Strainer was a small pot with a built in strainer to help chefs and the Carry Ferry was a product created to help carry grocery bags and eliminate several trips to the car. The Strawberry Dips was created to help make it easier for people to make chocolate covered strawberries.
When the presentations were complete, the judges were asked to choose an overall best product winner and and overall best presentation winner. The judges convened in the hallway and returned to the classroom to announce the winners.
The judges declared the E-Z Strainer as the best product, which was presented by Anthony Longo, Alyssa Cross and Lauren Slanker. The judges then bestowed the best presentation award on the group of Julia Petrallo, Vince Augustinelli and Ashley Kaleel for their Strawberry Dips product.
Michele Merkel, president of Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley, was also on hand to observe the students present their product pitches.
“Young people have good ideas. That’s the first step in creating a product. That idea can then be molded and worked with to create a great product. Young people are more motivated. They are much more accepting of the answer ‘no’ than an adult is and that plays to their advantage,” Merkel said.