PROJECTACTIVATE

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE PROJECT

MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL CHAPTER 6447

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA 2017-2018

table of contents

introduction

evidence of publicity

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2

5

8

12

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research into needs

planning and development

implementation

evidence of publicity

final evaluation

benefits and degree of impact

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introductionPurpose of Project Throughout the world, the Silicon Valley is known as the heart of entrepreneurship, with numerous tech giants residing in the area as well. Although this theme of innovation reigns throughout the Silicon Valley in the form of numerous startups and businesses, many high school curriculums don’t focus on developing an entrepreneurial style of thinking for students and understanding the American Enterprise system. This especially holds true for high schools which don’t offer business classes, and serves as a potential detriment to students as an entrepreneurial mindset is a key tool in the workplace.

As a result, the American Enterprise project team created the following mission statement:

Increase teenagers’ entrepreneurial knowledge through a first-hand experience in writing a holistic business plan for their own ideas.

In accordance with sparking an interest in entrepreneurship, the Monta Vista American Enterprise team chose to name the 2017-2018 project, Project Activate. The team first focused on the Monta Vista High School community, as they hoped to elevate their own school community’s knowledge of innovation. From December to February, the team held weekly meetings to teach different business concepts to the MVHS community in order to provide them with the resources and skills necessary in developing comprehensive business plans. During the implementation of our goals, Project Activate followed a theme of C.R.E.A.T.E.: Connect, Research, Educate, Apply, Teamwork, and Execute.

Connect: Bring together at least 50 Monta Vista community members to learn, write, and compete in Project Activate.Research: Observe problems in the community that students may address in their business plans. Educate: Teach community members fundamental business and entrepreneurial concepts and increase member’s entrepreneur knowledge by at least 50%.Apply: Assist students in applying their new business knowledge to create their own business plans with at least 6 workshops. Teamwork: Have students work in business plan teams of at least three to practice and improve their business skills.Execute: Present plans in front of a panel of four professional and receive feedback.

By following the C.R.E.A.T.E. goals, Project Activate hoped to help members build a solid foundation in entrepreneurship that was otherwise not taught in classes.

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research into needs

Research into School and Community Needs Planning for the 2017-2018 American Enterprise Project began immediately after the 2017 State Leadership Conference held in Sacramento, California. Monta Vista FBLA’s Vice President of Projects, Emily Su, appointed Neha Dasari as the Director of the American Enterprise project, making her responsible for choosing a focus and executing the project. Later, Trudie Ngo, William Yang, and Pratya Poosala were chosen to be Event Organizers. Together, they formed the Projects branch of the Monta Vista FBLA officer team.

Survey In order to select a focus and theme for the year, the Projects branch used a survey (shown to the left) to gauge what students would be interested in learning throughout the year. The team decided that the target audience for the project would be Monta Vista High School students, as it would be ideal to start off with a student body that was easily accessible. In late August of 2017, the survey was sent out to the entire student body through Facebook and School Loop, the school’s email portal. The questions in the survey asked students about what business topics they were most interested in learning about, with topics ranging from finance and marketing to business plans and entrepreneurship. Approximately 35 students replied to the survey with interest in the event and the Projects team saw that students were most excited about learning how to write business plans and market their ideas.

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research into needs

Projects Interest Meeting On September 7, 2017, the Projects branch planned an hour long member meeting in the school auditorium, describing the different projects that MVFBLA has to offer. The Projects team shared details about the American Enterprise Project, and students were encouraged to approach officers with any questions. Students interested in participating in the project were asked to fill out the survey that was sent out to the school. This allowed the Projects team to assess how many students would participate throughout the year and further comprehend what they wanted to learn. At the end of the meeting, 15 new responses on the survey were recorded.

Now, with a total of 50 interested participants, the Projects branch determined a focus for the year. As a majority of the students indicated they wanted to learn entrepreneurship and marketing, the projects team determined that the theme for the 2017-2018 American Enterprise Project would be writing and pitching business plans, ultimately naming it Project Activate. Through these business plans, students would learn how to think like an entrepreneur, grow their business ideas, and market their businesses to industry professionals.

Comps Open House Projects Station Following the Projects Interest Meeting, Monta Vista FBLA held its annual Competitions

Open House on September 9, 2017. The Open House is a time for new and returning members to learn about the various competitions and projects that

students will be able to participate in throughout the year. The projects team set up a booth at the Open House to further explain the projects and the ways students could get involved. A pamphlet describing the goals of Project Activate was distributed, and the Projects team was able to encourage 10 more members to participate in the project.

To introduce the teamwork aspect of projects to students, participants competed in a fun activity where they tried to get a tennis ball balanced on a paper plate to fall into a styrofoam cup. It was challenging for

students at first, but after communicating with each other and discussing strategies, every team was able to accomplish the task. Communication and team-

building skills were important to introduce to students since one of the project’s goals, Goal Teamwork, revolved around members working in teams to write and present business plans.

Entrepreneurship Test In order to further understand what business knowledge members already had and what should be taught, the 60 members who signed up to participate in the American Enterprise Project were emailed a short 11 question test. Furthermore, the Projects team wanted to ensure that what they were teaching would satisfy a genuine concern and interest for the school and community as a whole. The first question on the test asked, “Do you believe you have a strong understanding of entrepreneurship?” Of the 48 responses on the test, 9 answered “yes,” 17 answered “somewhat,” and 22 answered “no”. These results clearly indicated that writing business plans would address a real knowledge gap in members as they were a good tool to teach entrepreneurship. The remaining ten questions asked about specific aspects of entrepreneurship, and an example of a commonly missed one is below.

For small business owners, one of the most important objectives is _______. a) market presence b) growth c) profitability d) adaptability e) innovation

The following histogram shows a distribution of scores for the initial assessment.

The figure above shows the distribution of correct answers on a ten question test focused on entrepreneurship. On average, students answered 4/10 questions correctly, revealing the lack of entrepreneurship knowledge amongst high school students. Although this distribution yields results just slightly higher than random guessing, there was undoubtedly room for improvement.

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planning and development

Planning of Project

Building a Timeline In order for Project Activate to be executed successfully, thorough planning at the beginning of the year was crucial. At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, the Projects team built a timeline for the upcoming year.

May - September 2017: Select a Focus for the American Enterprise Project By the end of September 2017, the Projects team selected a theme and focus for the project, ensuring that it satisfied school and community needs.

October 2017: Spread Awareness for Project Activate During this month, the team spread awareness for the project through activities held at Monta Vista High School.

November 2017: Gain Exposure to Entrepreneurship Introduced members to entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley by bringing in guest speakers to help members learn the entrepreneurship mindset and think creatively about the problems in their community.

December 2017: Begin Writing Business Plans Project Activate members created a list of topics that were to be taught during business plan workshops. They researched the topics extensively and created presentations that would teach members about various parts of entrepreneurship.

January 2018: Continue Writing Business Plans Every Saturday, the team continued to host workshops to guide members in developing and flushing out their business ideas. The business plan teams learned about and created marketing, management, operations, and finances for their business plans.

February 2018: Prepare for Shark Tank Event The final month of the business plan workshops focused on creating presentations and finalizing the different parts of the business idea. Members practiced pitching ideas and public speaking in preparation for the Shark Tank event held at the end of February.

Funding In order to raise money to buy textbooks and resources for members to learn entrepreneurship and reserve a venue for the Shark Tank event at the end of the year, Project Activate needed to hold a fundraiser. On September 15, 2017, Monta Vista FBLA held an after school fundraiser selling milk tea in the rally court, the busiest part of campus, so that all students leaving class at the end of the day would know about the fundraiser. Milk tea was bought in bulk from a local tea shop, Tea Era. Each cup of milk tea sold for $4 and at the end of the fundraiser, $200 was raised. The $200 was placed in the Monta Vista FBLA bank account and later used throughout the year to purchase materials and reserve a Shark Tank venue.

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planning and development

Creating Project Committees In order to increase member participation in Project Activate and give m e m b e r s m o r e opportunities to practice l e a d e r s h i p a n d communication, Project C o m m i t t e e s w e r e c reat e d . Fo r Pro j e c t A c t i v a t e , i n t e r e s t e d members were placed on one of two committees: the Outreach Committee and Research Committee. The figure to the left shows the committee’s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a n d members.

Responsibilities • Research a variety of

business concepts in correlation to business plans

• Present business concepts to educate members at business plan workshops

Members Daniel Duan

Rishi Ajjarapu Grace Zhou

Irene McNelis Arya Jawadekar

Urvi Shah Eric Huang Dylan Geva Yolanna Lu

Jessica Nelson

Responsibilities • Spread awareness about

project thorough maintaining website, passing out fliers and posters

• Encourage students to participate in project

Members Namrata Harish

Wilson Xu Supriya Shingade

Theresa Lee Annabelle Wu Andy Zhang

Purnima Venkat Mark Solomonik

Project Activate

Outreach CommitteeResearch Committee

planning and development

Development of Project

Intro to Projects Blackberry Farm Social On October 16, 2017, Monta Vista FBLA members met at Blackberry Farm, a local park, to bond

as a chapter, reinforce Project Activate’s goals, and implement early marketing events, most notably, Project Activate Week. Project organizers briefed the chapter about

the more specific goals of Project Activate, and also encouraged discussion by asking for their thoughts. Most of the time was spent on members preparing for Projects Week by assembling the posters and materials required. For Projects Week, the Projects team spread awareness about Project Activate to the Monta Vista High School student body by hanging up enormous posters in the rally court and holding activities for the students to participate in. On one 12-foot-long poster, project members stenciled and pasted the words “If I were an entrepreneur, I would...” The students cut out over 150 bow ties that would be used during Projects

Week for students to fill out and stick on the poster.

Projects Week American Enterprise Day From the week of October 17, 2017 to October 20, 2017, Monta Vista FBLA held the annual Projects Week to promote Project Activate. On October 19, 2017, the poster created at the Project Activate social was hung in the rally court at lunch, so that all students entering the cafeteria and eating at the outdoor lunch tables could see it. The student body was curious about the enormous poster and came up to Project members in front of the poster to ask questions. Members explained that the purpose of the poster reading “If I were an entrepreneur, I would...” was to publicize Project Activate and gain more student traction in the school and community. Students were encouraged to write their responses to the poster prompt on bowtie-shaped cutouts and stick them to the poster. The responses on the poster included “...solve world hunger,” “start a party planning business,” and “travel the world.” The poster was ultimately successful in promoting Project Activate and cultivating more student interest and participation.

Implementation of Project

Guest Speaker Joseph Wei On November 11, 2017, Monta Vista FBLA invited local entrepreneur and guest speaker, Joseph Wei, to speak to the chapter about his experience in starting his business, PowerUp. It was important for members to hear from an entrepreneur, as it inspired them to create their own business plans and assisted them in learning the importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset. Mr. Wei explained how modern society faces a major problem: a lack of portable clean energy. His company, PowerUp addresses this issue by making hydrogen fuel cells that quickly creates and transports eco-friendly energy. Through his presentation, Mr. Wei explained his entrepreneurship process which consisted of identifying a problem in his community and then creating a business that offered a viable solution. Monta Vista FBLA members were fortunate to hear Mr. Wei speak about his entrepreneurial journey, as they gained insight into the exciting Silicon Valley entrepreneurship spirit and network with a business professional in the real world. Mr. Wei’s speech also inspired students to begin thinking of problems in their societies that their business plans could address.

Personality Test Meeting On December 7, 2017, Projects officers had the Project Activate members take personality tests from 16personalities.com for them to better understand themselves. All 60 members attended the meeting

and were instructed to take the test on their smartphones or laptops. After taking the test, the various personality types were debriefed about the various aspects of the results, from

weaknesses to career options to social interactions. For example, a student found out that she had the personality type ENFJ which was someone who is very people-focused, has high ethics, and knows how to connect with any person. This girl felt that the description of an ENFJ personality type fit her perfectly and was able to understand other things about herself such as who she worked best with. Students then formed groups with people of different personality types and further talked about how much they felt the results applied to them. After interacting with people of various personality types, students finalized teams for their business plans trying

to have a variety of personalities in each group to ensure a wide range of skill sets and perspectives. At the end of the meeting, twelve teams of five students each were created. By

putting people of various personalities in the same group, the team mimicked the real business world where students would be interacting with many different types of people.

Weekly Business Plan Bootcamp Meetings The Projects team and committees began the business plan bootcamp in early December with the goal of hosting the Shark Tank at the end of February. This opportunity was open to the

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entire school, and was advertised through Facebook posts, school posters, and school-wide emails. Of the 60 initial students interested in participating in the American Enterprise project, all 60 students signed up to take part in Project Activate and the business plan bootcamp. These 60 students were a mix of Monta Vista FBLA members, Design It Club members, Technovation Club members, and students from other organizations across campus. At the very first bootcamp meeting, on December 9, 2017, students regrouped with the teams they had formed during the Personality Test Meeting. The prompt for the Shark Tank was introduced, reading “Create an online company that addresses either a social, educational, or commercial problem.” The team created this prompt to give students a focus for their thinking, while also having enough space to create creative businesses. Students were extremely excited to participate, and they started brainstorming as soon as they met with their teams. Ideas ranged from a digital marketplace connecting third world companies with American markets to a website that would help customers choose the best gifts for their friends.

Every Saturday following this meeting, the Projects team and committees taught a new business topic, and then the teams were given time to incorporate the new information into their businesses. For these meetings, the Research Committee was responsible for researching the topic and condensing the material into a 10 minute presentation that they would then present. The topics that were taught during the bootcamp workshops are listed below. At the conclusion of the bootcamp, students were prepared to present their ideas at the Shark Tank and walked away feeling more confident about writing business plans, gained a solid grasp of entrepreneurship, and learned how to think like an entrepreneur.

Educational Member Meetings To reiterate what was taught at Saturday meetings, educational member meetings held on Thursdays helped students further solidify their understanding of business concepts. These meetings were held every Thursday in Monta Vista FBLA advisor Carl Schmidt’s room and had approximately 30 participants each time. Oftentimes at these meetings, students would play business trivia or Kahoot! to gamify their learning and have fun while still learning valuable information. Many students found it to be very

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implementation

beneficial to have these member meetings because they solidified business concepts and asked the Research Committee any questions they had. With this better understanding of concepts, students could more easily apply them to their business plans.

Additional Workshops To supplement the business knowledge that students were gaining from the business plan workshops, two additional “How To” workshops were held to expose students to more aspects of the business world.

Workshop 1: How To: Dress for Success The first of the additional workshops was held on January 13, 2018, and focused on teaching students how to dress appropriately for business casual and business formal events. Members of the Research Committee and Outreach Committee collaborated to research acceptable business attire for various situations and created a presentation to demonstrate to members. The workshop concluded with an interactive activity, led by Outreach Committee member Andy Zhang teaching students how to tie a tie.

Workshop 2: How To: Interview The next “How To” workshop was held on February 10, 2018 to advise students about

interviews and how to make good first impressions. Project Activate members Daniel Duan and Grace Zhou hosted the workshop and covered how to approach and prepare for a job interview, as well as how to react when difficult questions were asked. Daniel and Grace went through possible answers for several common interview questions such as “Tell me about yourself,” and “What’s your greatest weakness?” Near the end of the workshop, the hosts let volunteers respond to questions to give them a realistic, impromptu experience. Many chapter members found this workshop to be engaging and

helpful and thought that hearing each other’s interview answers was a great opportunity to learn from one another.

Chef Koochooloo Pitches Monta Vista FBLA had the opportunity to work closely with Chef Koochooloo, a startup created by a local entrepreneur. Chef Koochooloo hoped to expand their target market to elementary school children to enhance their learning curriculum and help them develop problem-solving and communication skills. Members were given the task of creating a two-minute pitch that would sell the company to school administrations and faculties. On February 17, 2018, approximately a week before the members pitched their final business ideas, students gathered at the local Cupertino Library. They were given a description of Chef Koochooloo worked in groups of four to develop their pitches. 30 members participated in this event and presented their pitches in front of an audience.

implementation

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Each pitch was followed by a four-minute feedback period where officers and the audience provided constructive criticism for the future. On-the-spot questions were asked to help students think of answers quickly and simulate a real-life pitch to business professionals. Hosting this pitching workshop helped members practice their public speaking skills and develop confidence when presenting in front of a large group of people, which was especially critical for students as they continued practicing for their final business plan presentations.

Culminating Event: Shark Tank On February 27, 2018, Monta Vista FBLA held the long-awaited Shark Tank as a culminating event. The ten teams presented their business plans to seven judges including the Cupertino City Mayor, software engineers, small business owners, and an angel investor. The event was split into three stages: setup, presentation, and conclusion.

Setup: At 4:00 in the afternoon, the Projects team arrived at Sunny View Community Hall to prepare for the event. The team set up chairs, a judge’s table, and refreshments. At 4:30, Project Activate teams arrived at the SunnyView Community Hall. They met with their teams, practicing their pitches for the final time to ensure that their presentations would run smoothly. While teams practiced, the Projects team began greeting judges and g o i n g over the rubrics that the teams would be evaluated using.

Presentation: At 5:00, the teams began to present their pitches that they worked on for several months. The teams showcased all their knowledge and skills they acquired through the bootcamp; critically thinking about a product or service the market needs, doing market research and analysis, learning about and writing all of the parts of a business plan, and presenting to an audience in a professional manner. Each team was given seven minutes for their presentation followed by a three minute question and answer period. The judges then graded the presentations on a 100 point rubric covering product idea, marketing, and finances. The judges were impressed by the quality of the holistic and thorough business plans and also provided feedback for students to further improve.

Conclusion: At the end of all the presentations, the judges were given time to discuss all the presentations and choose a first place winner. After deliberation, the judges selected EasyGoing, a business aimed to help individuals and groups plan trips with their friends. Once the user input the number of people going and a few interests, EasyGoing would provide a list of fully planned trips, ranging in length and price, that the user could choose from. EasyGoing team members were later approached by one of Facebook’s product managers: Alison Swope, to discuss a potential future for EasyGoing.

Evidence of publicity

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Project Continuation and Future Development Since the Shark Tank had enormous success in the community, several more will be held in the future. Every four months, a new business plan bootcamp will be started, each culminating in a Shark Tank. For each bootcamp, prompts will be given to guide students in addressing a variety of problems in society. For example, the next bootcamp which is planned to begin in June 2018, will focus on problems concerning the environment.

Additionally, Project Activate plans to expand it’s impact on the community by extending it’s reach to middle school children, especially in underprivileged areas to stimulate a strong entrepreneurial drive from a young age. Project Activate’s focus and impact on youth development, especially in the entrepreneurial sector, will only lead to a stronger economic community with more vibrant small businesses. This initiative was supported by the city’s chamber of commerce, which sent a letter of recognition regarding Project Activate and it’s value to the community, as well as proffered support to assist the project in expansion.

Evidence of Publicity Received Gaining publicity for Project Activate was crucial to spread awareness for the project and garner student participation to make an impact in Monta Vista High School and the community. Below are the forms and evidence of publicity that Project Activate received.

Form of Publicity EffectCupertino Chamber of Commerce Letter of Recognition

Project Activate was commended by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce in a letter of recognition for the project’ hard work and impact in the community.

Monta Vista FBLA WebsiteThe Monta Vista FBLA website has a detailed overview of the project, giving a summary of previous events and of upcoming future events for Monta Vista FBLA members to look forward to.

Monta Vista FBLA Facebook and Instagram

The Monta Vista FBLA Facebook and Instagram pages were updated regularly with “countdown photos” to promote upcoming events

El Estoque Website

Monta Vista High School’s newspaper, El Estoque, covered Monta Vista FBLA hosts Project Week. Journalists Ananya Bhat and Songjun Na interviewed project members about Project Activate and project events throughout the year. The articles were later posted online at www.elestoque.org.

El Estoque Instagram The newspaper also posted images of students participating in project events to explain to students what was done at the event.

i n t r o d u c t i o nbenefits and degree of impact

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The images below show a a few examples of publicity received for Project Activate. The pictures include a website, an El Estoque article, and a letter of recognition from the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce.

Benefits and Degree of Impact

Benefit to Monta Vista High School The 2017-2018 American Enterprise Project benefited Monta Vista High School in several ways. Through Project Activate, students were able to network with industry professionals, expand their business knowledge through writing business plans, and develop their speaking abilities through pitching business ideas.

Writing a business plan allowed each member to learn detailed aspects of entrepreneurship. They also gained a variety of lifelong skills that they can use throughout high school and beyond. A few of the skills that members gained is depicted in the table below.

20455 Silverado Avenue

Cupertino, CA 95014 Tel (408) 252-7054

www.cupertino-chamber.org Anjali Kausar Chief Executive Officer 2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS BOARD OFFICERS Andrew Walters, President San Jose Water Company Keith Warner, Immediate Past President & VP Finance Pacific Workplaces Richard Abdalah, VP Membership Abdalah Law Offices Sandy James, VP HR & Staffing Sand Hill Properties Kevin McClelland, VP LAC Leeward Financial & Insurance Services Inc. Mike Rohde, VP Special Events Main Street Cupertino BOARD MEMBERS Donna Austin Cupertino Historical Society Claudio Bono Cupertino Hotel Jessy Borges Pacific Gas & Electric Company Catherine Chen State Farm Insurance Art Cohen Jason Lundgaard Apple Inc. Elizabeth Marchu Technology Credit Union Hanh Nguyen Kaiser Permanente Mark Tersini KT Urban Vivian Wong Boston Private John Zirelli Recology

March 2, 2018 William Yang “Monta Vista FBLA Partnership with Business Project” Monta Vista Future Business Leaders of America 21840 McClellan Rd Cupertino, CA 95014 Dear William, This letter is to provide formal recognition of your work on educating students about entrepreneurship. We were impressed to hear about all the different activities that you have held to further the career development of Monta Vista FBLA members, such as the series of workshops educating members on how to write a business plan. The tangible applicability of writing business plans is especially important when starting a business, whether in Cupertino, in the local area, or even online. The Shark Tank event, where members had the opportunity to present their business plans to Facebook professionals, entrepreneurs, and angel investors, is a commendable effort on your part to give Monta Vista FBLA members important hands-on experience marketing their business dreams and ideas. We congratulate you on the success of the Shark Tank event and your other entrepreneurial programs, and thank you again for sharing the efforts of your team with us. Sincerely,

Victoria Low Program Coordinator Cupertino Chamber of Commerce

“Monta Vista FBLA American Enterprise Project”

benefits and degree of impact

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Degree of Impact on Monta Vista High School In late February of 2018, the 11 question test that was sent out in the beginning of the year was sent out again to project participants. The first question asked, “Do you believe you have a strong understanding of entrepreneurship?” Out of the initial 48 responses on the test, 9 answered “yes,” 17 answered “somewhat,” and 22 answered “no”. At the end of the project, there were 48 responses where 35 people answered “yes,” 13 people answered “somewhat,” and 0 people answered “no”. The remaining ten questions were also the same as the initial test. The first test had an average score of 4/10, but the test at the end of the project had an average score of 9/10, revealing the learning growth in members. The figure shows the distribution of scores, with light blue representing scores at the beginning and dark blue showing scores at the end of the project. This 125% increase in scores reveals Project Activate’s huge impact on Monta Vista High School and its students.

Skill How Skill was Gained

Interpersonal Skills

Project participants formed teams with other projects members they did not know and worked together throughout the duration of the project. Members collaborated as a group and synergized with their teammates to create their business plan. In this manner, members learned teamwork and interpersonal skills and learned the importance of clear and concise communication

Public Speaking Skills

Through participation in the American Enterprise Project, students greatly improved their public speaking. Members practiced their business plan pitches at workshops where they were watched by Monta Vista FBLA officers. The officers offered them feedback, advice, and constructive criticism to improve for future presentations. Through frequent practice, project participants gradually grew their confidence and speaking abilities. Members cultivated skills that distinguish good speakers, including varied hand gestures, body posture, and voice inflection.

Organization

Project members regularly practiced organizational skills in order to meet deadlines for their business plans. Since project participants would be presenting in front of business professionals, they had to use their time efficiently to create holistic and creative presentations.

Benefit and Degree of Impact to the Community Hosting the Shark Tank was beneficial to the wider community because of their involvement. Many parents and community members attended the Shark Tank, increasing their business knowledge, and both parents and city officials recognize the project as one to help students accelerate their business education.

Final Evaluation The Monta Vista FBLA chapter exceeded every goal it had initially set out to accomplish. The accomplishment of the C.R.E.A.T.E. goals from the beginning of the year are shown below.

final evaluation

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Goal Accomplished

ConnectThe Projects team placed participants in teams of 3-5, so that each individual had a group throughout the entire process. Students practiced their communication and teamwork skills, qualities that are extremely necessary in the modern business world.

Research Each team brainstormed daily problems in their lives that they could potentially address in their business plan.

Educate The Project taught students fundamental business concepts and increased entrepreneurial knowledge by 125%

Apply The Research committee taught at ten work sessions to ensure that team members could properly and efficiently implement their new business knowledge.

ExecuteEach group of five presented in front of a panel of seven judges and were able to receive a real-world experience of pitching to investors, an experience which stands as an important stepping stone for future endeavors in the business world.

Recommendations for Change Although successful in making a significant impact in the community, the Project Activate does have room for growth. The Projects branch aims to expand the Shark Tank event beyond just the MVHS community, bringing in other high schools as well. In addition, the Projects branch specifically wants to target communities that are less privileged and don’t have the funds for a business program, as the Projects branch believes the they can create change on the largest magnitude in such an area. Another area for growth is raising more funds in the future to simulate a real startup having to raise money. Members can brainstorm unique fundraising ideas, spurring creativity and growth.

Through this project, chapter members learned that the real challenge for any entrepreneur is taking the initiative to plan and bring an idea to life. The 2017-2018 American Enterprise Project pushed all members to complete a business plan to pitch in front of judges, effectively helping members take an important step as entrepreneurs. Given the success of the 2017-2018 American Enterprise Project, chapter members are extremely proud to continue this project on into the future, expanding the event to an even larger group of people who have the chance to be positively impacted.