Marvelwood School Students Win Top Honors at EntreX Regional Venture Showcase
[Kent, CT] Two teams from Marvelwood School’s ECC EntreX entrepreneurship class took home two of the top prizes in the EntreX Regional Venture Showcase held at Rutgers University on February 28.
Marvelwood partners with the University of Delaware to offer the ECC EntreX Entrepreneurship class, in which students work in teams to identify opportunities to develop innovative enterprises in either the business or social arena. Teams pitched their venture proposals and received valuable feedback from a group of professionals in a “Shark Tank”-style event on campus in early February. The winning teams in each category represented Marvelwood at the Rutgers showcase.
Heni Foote P'20 teaches the Entrepreneurship class at Marvelwood. “It has been a wonderful experience for our students to have the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship and to have a space to be creative and innovative, and work as a team,” she said. “Our groups created innovative and applicable business plans, and winning the pitching competitions was a bonus that affirmed their hard work.”
Sydney Mims ‘24, Mya German ‘23 and You Wu ‘23 competed against seven other high school teams in the Social Innovation competition. Their venture project – WeCare Healthcare, a mobile healthcare unit that provides care and access to resources to disadvantaged populations at a low cost – won first place and a $1000 prize.
Ten schools competed in the showcase’s Business Innovation category. Marvelwood seniors Isabelle Houck '23, Anna Brown '23 and Gracia Galicia '23 pitched their innovation, AllergyGallery, an easy-to-use app that helps kids and their parents and guardians navigate food allergies. Their venture won second place and an award of $500.
“I congratulate The Marvelwood School for an impressive showing,” said Felicia Harrington, Assistant Director of Youth Programs for the Horn Entrepreneurship initiative at the University of Delaware. “Marvelwood took two of the top spots – a first for an EntreX school. Mrs. Foote has done an excellent job implementing the program, and that was made clear by the amazing ventures that her students presented.”
Both teams are now eligible to compete for a $10,000 funding prize against teams from around the world in the Summit Diamond Challenge at the University of Delaware in April. The winners will be awarded $10,000 to fund their innovations.
