HANCOCK, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Copper Country Intermediate School District has brought the popular tv show ‘Shark Tank’ to freshwater.
On Tuesday morning after months of preparations, around 40 CTE high school students from Baraga, Keweenaw and Houghton counties brought their business projects to life through formal presentations at the Hancock Community Hub, before receiving feedback from a panel of ‘Pikes.’
“This is just kind of an opportunity for us to apply some of our classroom learning in a realistic way,” said Steve Kass, CTE business instructor at CCISD.
These high schoolers worked in pairs to create a unique product and ‘sell it’ to the judges. This meant collaboration was a highlight of the project.
“If you come up with something, the other person can bounce off. It let us grow and make the product better overall,” said Calumet High School junior, Kiersten Lassila. “We made an atmospheric water generator, it was kind of cool coming up with it, because you had to come up with something new, so it really got our entrepreneurial mindsets going.”
The group began their day with words from keynote speakers Marty Fittante and Jim Baker. Throughout the day, students went through breakout sessions while others presented. In the building’s gymnasium, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College students and Breakwater Federal Credit Union were posted up in stages of business creation, to simulate entrepreneurial tactics.
“We go step by step, send them to different stations so that they can try and make the best fit for their business that they chose,” said KBOCC student body VP, Shayla Elmblad. “The importance to that learning is to make sure that you’re thinking about the long run, not just what’s going on in the moment.”
A special piece of the inaugural event was the fact that these students created most of it, including the logo, branding, agenda, even sending press releases. A takeaway was that no matter the outcome from their projects and presentations, their involvement is what stood out.
“The light bulb kind of went off for a lot of them, and they got very excited about seeing the potential that that they have now,” said Kass. “I think that’s going to be the best lasting effect from this experience, is building confidence.”
Students finished the day with a final round of the mornings winning contestants, presenting their pitches to local business leaders.
