USchool Entrepreneurs Impress at JA Fellows Shark Tank Competition

Participants in the Junior Achievement Fellows Company Program

NSU University School, in partnership with Junior Achievement, offers students an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship, financial literacy and workplace readiness. Twenty Upper School students are participating in the Junior Achievement Fellows Company Program (JA Fellows), an 18-week entrepreneurship program that teaches economics through real-world experience in business and develops leadership skills. Students are involved in all aspects of creating and running a business, from raising capital, to marketing, to production, to liquidation, and profit return to shareholders under the guidance of local business experts who volunteer their time to work with the students. This year, the experts are Keith Franklin, USchool alumna and Vice President of Group Sales at DentalPlans, Beth Besner, USchool parent and founder of I-Care I-Cure Foundation, and Peter Anderson, Wealth Advisor at Vertias Wealth Advisors.

In addition to learning entrepreneurial skills, JA Fellows are required to invent an innovative marketplace product. This year, the USchool team has developed The Kar Kit. The Kar Kit, small enough to fit in a car’s glove compartment, is a pouch large enough to hold a set of personal and safety essentials for drivers. Among the items in The Kar Kit are a window breaker/seatbelt cutter, flashlight, tire gauge, band aids, and disinfectant wipes. Furthermore, the Kar Kit includes a pledge card that provides important statistics to teenagers on the dangers of texting and driving.

Every Kar Kit customer is encouraged to sign the pledge card, have their family members sign it as well, and send it to the student-run company to post on the company website’s list of safe drivers.  The pledge card and the safe driver list sends a clear message to Kar Kit customers that texting and driving is dangerous and starts a conversation between teens and their parents about this critical safety issue. Andrew Horowitz, grade 11, participant in JA Fellows and president of Kar Kit’s parent company, explained, “I have always had an interest in business and the JA Fellows program at USchool has given my classmates and me the opportunity to start a business before we even enter college.” He went on to add, “The fact that Kar Kit provides a public service is a great bonus.”

The Kar Kit

Junior Achievement sponsors two competitions in South Florida. Both events give JA Fellows an opportunity to present their products to business experts and a chance to compete against other teams. At the first event, NSU’s version of “Shark Tank,” USchool competed against 11 other teams from Broward and Palm Beach County. University School’s Kar Kit entrepreneurs placed first! In fact, all seven of the “Shark” investors were so impressed with Kar Kit that they wanted to invest in the product.

The second Junior Achievement competition will take place in March. At this event, the 12 participating schools will compete for a variety of trophies, from “Best Trade Booth” to “Best Elevator Pitch” to “Best Annual Report” to “Best South Florida JA Company of the Year.” Karen Martin, Associate Director of Student Services pointed out, “University School came home with almost every trophy last year, including Company of the Year, and so we have set the bar very high for this year.” After the competition in March, there is a national competition in Washington D.C. Schools across the country are selected, based on their local competitions, to compete nationally.

The Kar Kit has become so successful that the team has already sold over 400 kits with pending orders for more. William Kopas, Head of School at NSU University School, a parent of teens, and a Kar Kit customer himself said, “I am incredibly proud of and impressed by the JA students who developed the Kar Kit. It’s a great product and a great message, especially for new drivers.”

If you would like to find out more information about the Kar Kit, please email: www.alpha-essentials.biz.