On May 1, the second Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) Young Entrepreneurs in Action Showcase took place at the Rene Caisse Theatre in Bracebridge.
In this Dragon’s Den style event, individual students and teams from secondary schools across the Board presented a five to seven minute business pitch to four community judges: Allison Holder, Anne Davidson, Christy Buckley, and Emma Grimstead. Each of the judges are actively involved in entrepreneurship in varied ways, and not only used their business experience to decide the winnings, but also provided students with probing questions and advice to help advance their understanding about design thinking and what it means to start a company.
During the day, students were able to hear from guest speaker, Tanner Big Canoe from the Pinnguaq Association, which is a non-profit venture whose mission is to “work alongside rural, remote, Indigenous, and other communities to support the development of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM) skills through innovative technology, art, and play.” Tanner spoke about The Project Life Cycle and the process to develop and implement a product or idea.
After much deliberation, the winnings were revealed and 11 of the 13 participants were awarded $11,750 in total!
The two top pitches, which was I.E. Weldon Secondary School (IEWSS) student, Collin Deshane, Back in Chime, and IEWSS student, Katherine Guan, Civiva, will now move on to the Provincial Showcase at the Ontario Skills Competition in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7.
“Many teachers helped students to build their knowledge and business skills so that they were ready for the showcase,” explained TLDSB Secondary Curriculum Services consultant, Penta Ledger. “TLDSB is very proud of all of the competitors who took a chance and did the hard work to participate in an event that not only looks to support student creativity, but also help them to build resiliency, strong learning skills, and a deeper understanding of the important part they play in their own future and of those around them.”
