SEC: Big Ideas, Bold Pitches: Highlights from the 3rd Annual Shark Tank

The 3rd Annual Shark Tank Presentations took place in Ms. Lisa's Secondary II Writing classes in mid-January and the duo who developed and presented a pocket-sized, pink, portable makeup kit that they had 3D printed in the TIS Innovation Lab earned the top prize -- the coveted Shark Tank trophy.

Leila and Elanor presented their design, called "Pocket Pop, " to a group of "investors," known as Sharks, during a Speech unit project based on the wildly popular U.S. TV show, "Shark Tank," where entrepreneurs pitch product ideas before a group of judges, made up of teachers and upperclassmen, while hoping to snag the cash that will help their company go viral.

Our would-be entrepreneurs didn't actually win any real investments, of course, but the Writing students did learn about corporate pitch decks and how to script and deliver pitches that are convincing, informative, but also entertaining based on products or services they imagined and hoped would one day come to life. 

This year, the products were: Shqiply (an Albanian language learning app); GuideMe (a student planner and mentoring app); Oxio (a seeding drone that reforests acres of land); SmartWrite (a student tablet to minimize distractions); Spoil Alert (a refrigerator gadget and app to prevent food-borne illnesses); LentraLabs (a contact lens that corrects color blindness); ThermaFork (a food temperature-reading utensil); Pocket Pop; Energizebikestation (a bike that generates electricity); SkyGuard (a drone-prevention system for the military); Bloodify (a home blood monitoring device and app); Cushion Clothing (clothing that inflates to protect the elderly from falls); Jar! (a push-up jar for sticky foods, like mayonnaise); and BabySkin Products (organic skincare for babies).

Congratulations to all of those students who braved the Shark Tank and special thanks to our faculty members who gave up their lunch break to be our Sharks. A shout out to Mr. Domenico for cutting and engraving our shark-cuterie board for the snacks each day and for building our trophy.