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The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance announced the winners of its Fall Pitch Challenge earlier this month, awarding young entrepreneurs statewide with business ideas ranging from drive-in movie theaters to second-hand sporting goods suppliers. did.
Cooper Harness, Marshall Peters, and Cole Rasmusson took home awards for the 15-19 year old group, while the judges chose to pitch Navy Morrison, Ethan Labue, and Katie Rice for the 10-14 year old group. Sean Bock’s pitch for his Buffalo High School-themed sweatshirt company won the Spirit of Wyoming Award, which is given to suggestions that focus on improving the community.
The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance’s Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge challenges state students to develop product or service ideas that benefit their communities, the environment, or the state of Wyoming.
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This fall, young entrepreneurs will fulfill that mission, including an app that allows those battling phone addiction to lock their phones, and a series of schools that teach young people life skills and give them life opportunities. Suggested many businesses. Explore career paths.
Each winner received a prize of $100 in seed funding for the business, according to Kate Foster, program associate at the Wyoming Afterschool Alliance.
The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance launched the Pitch Challenge program in 2020 with a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation that supports local nonprofits working in the fields of education, environment, inequality and civic engagement .
The program got off to a shaky start after the coronavirus pandemic changed plans for in-person learning, but the Wyoming After School Alliance and its partners turned around and hosted roundtables and Zoom tutorials, Foster said. I got
Students are currently working through a series of modules that include videos and exercises that provide insights from business owners and entrepreneurs in Wyoming. This exercise guides students through the entrepreneurial process, from identifying problems and solutions, to building a business model, and finally to pitching their ideas.
The Wyoming After School Alliance has hosted five pitch challenges since 2020, with 50 to 75 students from across the state participating in each challenge, Foster said.
This program is suitable for students interested in business or those who have already started their own business, but it is not limited to them. Each challenge is designed to encourage creative thinking and problem-solving that can help young people in the future.
“There are six characteristics of entrepreneurial thinking: creativity, curiosity, growth mindset, empathy, problem-solving, and acceptance of failure.” It helps me practice two skill sets.”
The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance has sought to extend engagement by partnering with teachers and afterschool providers for each challenge. Many of this fall’s and past pitch challenge winners are from Buffalo, and the Wyoming After School Alliance has found a key ally in Buffalo High School Business and Entrepreneurship Teacher Kami Kennedy.
Kennedy leads four experiential learning-focused classes where students participate in negotiating and market research exercises, as well as a market day where students build and run their own businesses for the day. .
She also helps with Buffalo High School’s Startup Challenge. Kennedy said each of the past two-year students has received her $5,000 to start a business she proposed at the event.
Kennedy incorporates the Wyoming After School Alliance Pitch Challenge into each class, and her students often use the challenge as an opportunity to refine the business the class has already developed.
“It’s a good practice and a good way of communicating that’s important for entrepreneurs,” said Kennedy.
For Kennedy, there is no substitute for the real-world opportunities that Pitch Challenge and other coursework provide.
“Experiential learning is embedded in everything we do because we believe that otherwise we will not learn,” she said.
Kennedy’s belief in experiential learning is a sentiment shared by many Wyoming educators, and it’s gaining increasing attention as the Wyoming Department of Education seeks to strengthen career and technical education in the state.
In a final report released earlier this month, Gov. Mark Gordon’s Rethinking and Innovating Educational Delivery (RIDE) Advisory Group called for more opportunities in schools to give students hands-on learning and skill-building opportunities in their fields. I sought a career-oriented path. Hope to pursue.
The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance’s Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge complements its ongoing efforts to prepare students for the future, said Foster.
“We are helping students currently attending Wyoming schools and after-school programs to express themselves, be creative, and make a difference in today’s communities,” she said. “We also hope that they will develop skills that will lead them into the future and ultimately help Wyoming communities grow and thrive.”
Kennedy said the entrepreneurial spirit encouraged by the Pitch Challenge serves as an important starting point and provides a foundation for students to build on.
“Entrepreneurship is important for any career path,” she said. “Whatever you do, you need passion, responsibility, freedom and integrity.”
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