Youngstown students to compete in local 'Shark Tank'

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Afterschool Alliance and Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley Inc. will present Innovation Challenge from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University.

The challenge works something like the ABC-hit “Shark Tank,” but instead of Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec in the judges’ seats, Mahoning Valley entrepreneurs will assume those duties.

Participants will face a team of Mahoning Valley entrepreneurs and pitch their innovative ideas to potentially win cash prizes.

Youngstown Afterschool Alliance students from Discovery Transitions to Careers at Volney, East High School and Martin Luther King and William Holmes McGuffey elementary schools will compete, and cash prizes will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place finishers.

There’s one contest for middle-school students and a separate contest for high school. Each member of the winning teams will get $75, $50 and $25, for first-, second- and third-place, respectively, in each age group.

All students who participate will receive a $10 WalMart gift card.

The Innovation Challenge begins at 1 p.m. with the pitch competition, followed by the student workshops from 2 to 3 p.m. and a student trade show from 3 to 3:30 p.m. The awards ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m.

Parents, teachers and the community are encouraged to attend.