WE CLOSED THE SCHOOLS’ PROGRAMME FOR 2017 IN FINE STYLE WITH OUR GRAND FINALE
Wow! What a way to end our 2017 programme in our schools!
The Grand Finale, which was held on Saturday, October 14 at The River Club in Observatory, was a resounding success on every level. We changed the format for this year in that all our schools who had completed their business plans by the deadline were given the opportunity to present to a panel of judges on the morning. Every year we are amazed and astounded at the growing confidence of the learners when they present their business plans, as well as at how the calibre of the business ideas are improving year-on-year.
And indeed the ideas which were presented were attempting to address very real challenges we face in our communities on a daily basis, and ranged from proposals for nutritional eating plans in schools, to energy efficient light systems, to ‘fashion with a conscience’, to name just a few.
Our overall winners for 2017 was the Cravenby Comprehensive School; the decision from both the judges and the audience was absolutely unanimous; this team took their idea and turned it into a viable and fully-operational business.
Cravenby’s idea was centred on the development of a food garden. With start-up funding support from their teachers, their garden now not only yields fresh produce for their school’s feeding scheme, but produces enough fresh vegetables which they can also sell. Their profits are used to plough back into the maintenance and upkeep of the garden to ensure that it remains sustainable. Their winning prize, a R1,200 gift voucher from Shoprite, will also be used to further develop their business. It was awesome to see our entrepreneurship programme come to life through this business idea. (It did help that their teacher champion is a farmer too…!)
Our heartfelt thanks go to our teacher champions who have worked tirelessly to keep the children motivated to complete the 15-week course material, who brought the children to our Saturday morning Awaken the Giant breakfasts, and who interacted with us regularly to keep us informed of the progress which their Entrepreneur Societies were making every step of the way.
Thank you, also, to our sponsors: Shoprite, the Sage Foundation, the City of Cape Town, the Rotary Club of Cape Town, the River Club, the Vineyard Hotel, the Southern Sun Newlands Hotel, The Agency, and Mantelli’s for believing in our vision to grow entrepreneurship in schools so that we are able to graduate young people who can one day step out and make a meaningful contribution to society and their communities because they embrace a culture of entrepreneurship which says that every challenge can be turned into a viable business opportunity!
And finally thank you to the stars of the show, our young learners. Without you, your enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment, none of what we do would be achievable!
If you wish to sign up your school to participate in our 2018 programme, please do get in touch with us on 021 795 0566 or email nadia.snyders@teenentrepreneur.co.za.
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