A Plainfield South High School team brought home the District 202 Incubator Pitch Night trophy for the second year in a row.
Team Sahara Health and Wellness – seniors Asia Sudberry and Michelle Haley, and juniors James Atwood and Rowan Paul – earned first place at the second annual District 202 Entrepreneurial Student Final Pitch Night on May 5.
One team from each District 202 high school earned a spot in the final pitch night. One wild card team from a group of 28 teams was also chosen by popular vote the night of the final pitch.
The wild card team, JuiceBox, which created a mag-safe cell phone charger, was also from PSHS.
“I am incredibly proud of both teams and everything they accomplished,” said Breanna Roti, PSHS business education teacher and Incubator instructor.
A panel of community judges heard pitches from the five teams and chose the top three teams.
Team Sahara Health and Wellness won for its mobile app, designed to help student-athletes maintain proper nutrition during sports seasons and beyond.
High school juniors and seniors at all four district high schools can take Incubator entrepreneurial classes.
Students work with entrepreneurs and business mentors, coaches, and champions to find a solution to a problem, whether that is a service or product.
Sudberry, Haley, Atwood, and Paul are student athletes, and all had the same problem of how to eat healthily during their busy schedules.
“We figured an app would be a simple way to solve the problem,” Sudberry said.
Each team member took the class for varied reasons and learned about business and themselves during the class.
Team members said they learned confidence and teamwork during the class.
They also praised Roti for her leadership in guiding PSHS to back-to-back wins.
“It shows how good a teacher Ms. Roti is,” Haley said.
“Smaller class sizes help because we get more one-on-one attention,” she added.
Roti tries to make the class feel like family by encouraging celebration and building a comfortable and welcoming environment, she said.
“I really try to inspire them to tell a story that everyone can understand,” Roti said.
“From a young child to an older audience, the presentation should be clear and relatable to everyone. I also give very direct feedback.”
Team Sahara Health and Wellness members said they may take their app to the national competition this summer.
