The 2nd Annual Entrepreneur-ship Contest took place at Magen David Yeshivah High School recently. The contest was coordinated by instructors Mr. Joseph Naftaly and Mr. Daniel Kamelhar, who conduct the entrepreneurship classes for 10th graders. This class enables students to get an early start on business careers by preparing them to take on the challenges of an ever-changing economy.
Students from the 10th grade entrepreneurship classes were divided into groups; each group was directed to use their creativity to develop a business plan that they thought would be a success. In the business plan the students were required to explain why they felt their product would sell and how they intended to contend with their competition. In addition, students had to evaluate the financial aspects of their enterprise including variable costs, fixed costs and operating costs.
After the business plans were submitted by the participants and evaluated by their teachers, 10 groups were chosen to compete in the final round. During this round, the groups presented their plans to a panel of judges that included several well-regarded community businessmen. After the presentations, the judges questioned the students regarding inaccuracies and inconsistencies in their propositions. The students’ scores were determined, not only by the practicality of their plans, but also by their ability to resolve the flaws that were discovered by the judges.
Later, a dinner was held and the winners were announced. Parents, teachers, principals and friends gathered to see who would go home with the first place prize.
“Aquatech,” a product proposed by Elliot Rudy, Freddy Hidary and Raymond Esses, won first prize. This group presented a plan for establishing a company that would sell the free energy that is produced from the inherent flow of water in a building’s water pipes. The energy would be captured by a generator, and this generator could be used to supplement the power needed to run the building.
“E-Z Diapers,” proposed by Jennifer Hidary, Miriam Hidary and Renee Dayan, won the second place prize. This group designed a product that combined all the components required for diaper changing into one convenient package that mothers could easily take with them anywhere. Each unit contained baby wipes, diapers, creams and other diapering accessories.
“Winergy,” which won the third place prize, was proposed by Isaac Lati, Moshe Cohen and Eli Shalev. This group discovered an alternative energy source in air conditioners. They realized that the energy emitted by air conditioners could be captured with generators and used to power residential homes.
At the contest’s culmination, students were asked their thoughts on the competition. “I think it was a great learning experience,” said Elliot Rudy. “I learned how to balance my expenses and make a profit, all in a fun way.” Olgi Ayal praised the competition, saying, “I think it was a step up from just learning how to make a product in the classroom and unique because I never heard of another school giving students opportunities like this.”
All of the students agreed that the 2nd Annual Entrepreneurship competition was a great success!
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Joseph Kadosh is a student at Magen David Yeshivah.
