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Calling Young Innovators: Enter Franklin School’s Competition!

April 1, 2022 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Calling Young Innovators: Enter Franklin School’s Competition!

Franklin, a visionary new high school opening this fall in Newport, is kicking off Franklin Student Ventures, an incubator for student-entrepreneurs, with a competition open to all students in grades 6-11 in the greater Jersey City community!

Franklin’s Director of Innovation, Jaymes Dec, describes the competition as similar to “Shark Tank for teenagers to pitch their ideas designed to meet a challenge or solve a problem in their local community.”

A Bit of Background

“Our new school offers a personalized approach to project-based learning, and Franklin Student Ventures is an excellent example,” explains Mr. Dec. “In our incubator, we will support students as they conceive of an idea for their own business, non-profit, or service project and learn how to turn it into a reality with guidance and mentorship. They will learn design thinking skills to identify a problem, research and prototype a solution, and test and refine it. These entrepreneurial skills are increasingly important for success in our rapidly changing working world. We also want to help young innovators in our community succeed through the competition.”

About the Competition

Just like in the School’s incubator, participants entering Franklin’s Young Innovators’ Competition will have the opportunity to bring their ideas to fruition. Mr. Dec says, “We will select the ideas that offer the best potential for being impactful, innovative, and feasible and invite participants to present them to a panel of local entrepreneurs and innovators for consideration. Competition winners will be awarded:

Cash grants up to $1,000 to kickstart their idea

$2,500 Young Innovator Scholarship for Franklin students entering grade 9

$5,000 Innovation Scholarship for Franklin students entering grades 10 or 11

Mentorships with local entrepreneurs

Tips for Teens Entering the Virtual Competition

✓ Identify a problem in your community: Your community might be your block, your neighborhood, your city — or it might be your School, or maybe just a group of friends or family. Once you see something that this community needs or could be improved, try to clarify the problem and identify the root causes.

✓ Survey the community: Talk to community members about the problem or issue you identified. See if they also believe that it needs to be addressed. Discuss possible solutions, and think about the fastest and easiest way to test your solutions.

✓ Write your brief pitch: With only two minutes to pitch your idea virtually, it’s essential to be as concise as possible:

Introduce yourself and identify the community you would like to help.

What is the core problem you identified?

What is your solution?

What do you need to help implement your solution? Do you need seed money to get started? Access to other kinds of resources? Mentorship? Community support?

✓ Practice your pitch: It’s a good idea to practice at least ten times before recording yourself pitching your idea.

Make sure that you speak clearly.

You don’t have to memorize your pitch, but make sure to finish within two minutes.

✓ Enter the competition!

Parental permission is required to enter via this consent form.

Once received, you and your parent will receive a link to enter. For additional information, visit the Franklin website.

The deadline for submission is April 1.

Good luck!

 

Details

Date:
April 1, 2022
Time:
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Event Tags:

Venue

88 Town Square Place, Jersey City
88 Town Square Place
Jersey City, 07302 United States
+ Google Map
Phone
201-234-4781
View Venue Website

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