Central Okanagan posted Mar 7, 2016 @ 01:44pm by Kelsey Davis

Business Savvy Kelowna Secondary Students Win Innovation Award

They are a group of innovative thinkers and business competitions winners. More impressive, they don’t even have their high school diplomas yet.

A group of students from Kelowna Secondary School were the winners of the Junior Achievement British Columbia (JABC) Innovation Jam 2016.

The competition requires that school teams pitch innovative business ideas to a panel of judges that would solve real-world social and environmental problems.

<who> Photo Credit: JABC Innovation Jam </who> The winning students from Kelowna Secondary School with Jan Bell-Irving, President & CEO, JABC (centre-left), and Coralee Oakes, Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction (centre-right)

Gardening to Give was the students winning business plan. It involves a biodegradable gradient subscription box that would deliver local seeds and plants to homes.

Kelowna Secondary School teacher, Ray Kletke said he very proud and excited about his students win.

“These students have truly embodied the spirit of entrepreneurship,” said Kletke.

“By crafting and pitching an ingenious business idea as a team in a highly competitive and time-restricted environment, they captured the essence of this amazing JABC Innovation Jam event! They’re remarkable students who deserve to be proud of this accomplishment!”

<who> Photo Credit: Screen Grab/ JABC </who> Students from Kelowna Secondary School pitch their business plan to the panel of judges.

The five students from Kelowna Secondary (Claire DeMug, Jeremy Gagnue, Claudia Lauretta, Jordan MacDonald and Domonique Murdoch) beat out 20 other schools from across British Columbia to take top prize. The panel of judges made up of local business leaders and professionals scored the Kelowna students highest in the categories of impact, originality, feasibility, and scalability.

Gardening to Give was designed as an online marketplace and community to educate and bring social connectivity into the home.

During the two-minute pitch, the Kelowna team spoke about the impact of obesity, and shared their plans to support local and seasonal produce.

The student’s full pitch can be found on the video below.

Being grand prize winners means the Kelowna Secondary School students received certificates and a special business mentorship session with The Next Big Thing, a nonprofit that empowers next generation entrepreneurs with networking and learning opportunities.

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