FOSTERING AMBITION TOMORROW'S BUSINESS LEADERS This semester, upper school entrepreneurship students participated in a prestigious business plan competition open to 13-18 year old students around the world...The Conrad Challenge... www.conradchallenge.org/conrad-challenge The Conrad Challenge invites student teams from around the world to apply science, technology, entrepreneurship and innovation solutions to real-world problems in the categories of Aerospace & Aviation, Cyber-Technology & Security, Energy & Environment, Health & Nutrition, Transforming Education Through Technology, Smoke-Free World: Eliminating & Reducing Teen Vaping, and Smoke-Free World: Re-Purposed Farmlands & Tobacco Crops. CDS had one team who completed the requirements for Round 2, and have been named Conrad Innovators. Rohan K. and Laney H., class of 2022, competed under the category of The Foundation for a Smoke-Free world: Eliminating Teen Vaping. Every student in 10th grade entrepreneurship participated in Round 1. It was a great opportunity for them to hone the opportunity analysis skills they learned in 9th grade entrepreneurship and further develop their ability to write a business plan, try the Lean Canvas Model, and work on developing a persuasive pitch. This semester students are learning about some of the ways entrepreneurs access funding, specifically the financial markets, by participating in the Florida Stock Market game. They will also explore personal finance topics and learn to build a balanced budget spreadsheet tool for their future selves. They will participate in the National Personal Finance Challenge exam in March. Students will end the year with an internal marketing plan competition, where they will act as the Marketing Directors for well-known multinational brands and create a prototype and marketing plan to support a new product/service launch. There is a plan to visit the University of Tampa's Lowth Entrepreneurship Center's New Venture Expo this Spring.
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