Photo courtesy of Brooke Hawkins Collier.
Business students at Mountain Brook High School pitch their product and service ideas to a panel at the school earlier this spring.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 16 Mountain Brook High School business students were looking forward to making the final pitches for their new entrepreneurial concepts to a panel of business people April 30 at Innovation Depot in downtown Birmingham.
The Big Pitch was canceled due to the pandemic, but the INCubatoredu program was still a valuable learning experience for the students this spring.
Brooke Hawkins Collier, MBHS business teacher, said the course simulates real-life experiences for the students.
“This course is designed to inspire students to become true entrepreneurs by giving them the opportunity to create and fully develop their own product or service,” she said. “Real-world entrepreneurs and business experts serve as coaches and mentors guiding student teams through the process of ideation, market research and business plan development.”
Typically, the winning teams at the pitch sessions receive money to “help turn their business idea into a reality,” Collier said.
This semester’s ideas, teams and mentors areas follows:
- LearnEDU was created by Annya Evans-Martinez, Garrett Huddleston, Lawton Miller and Wade Roberts while being mentored by Richard Brock, CEO of OnBoard Search and founder of LawFit.
- Smart Shades was created by Max Calloway, Alex Gauld, Hagan Stephens and Braxton Wetzler while being mentored by Kim Lee, founder and CEO of Forge.
- Mentor Mindset was created by Holt Bashinsky, Sarah Margaret Currie, Will Krueger and Edward Reed while being mentored by John Sciarabba, CEO of Alden Systems.
- Seat Fleet was created by John Curtis Gray, Carey Hereford, Richman Priestley and Stephen Woodry while being mentored by Eleanor Estes, CEO of Tech Providers Inc.
