Saint Louis Teens Headed To National Entrepreneurship Competition

ST. LOUIS, MO — Three local students placed as top finalists this week in a regional completion modeled on the popular television show Shark Tank. Now, the winners of the St. Louis Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge — sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship — and are invited to the 2018 National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in October in New York City where they could win $25,000.

The competition held earlier this week was comprised of local high school students who completed the in-school entrepreneurship class offered by NFTE. The students presented and defended business plans to local business leaders.

The St. Louis winners were:

1st Place: Cassandra Childrey, a 10th grader at McCluer North High (Jake Lapinski) – Flashing Hounds, a dog leash that glows brightly by the flick of a switch. This dog leash makes walking your beloved pet safer at night for both you and the dog. It shows drivers of cars where you are. Using Flashing Hounds innovative dog leash will cut down on pedestrians being hit by cars when they are out walking their dogs at night.

2nd Place: Cherish Thompson & O’Ryan Bolden, 11th graders at McCluer North High (Jake Lapinski) – Safe Shades, a pharmaceutical product that allows people who take medication to quickly and safely alter the color of their medications for safe, easy identification. This product will save people from trips to the emergency room and even from possible death from taking wrong medications. Safe Shades makes medications more identifiable by custom colorization.

3rd Place: Jobir Ahmad-Gol, 9th grader at Normandy High School (Obinno Coley) – Nano Thermal Suit, a singular product with a dual purpose of muscle compression and recycling body heat in cold weather using fabric technology.

First and second place entrepreneur teams received $1,500 and $1,000, respectively, and are on the road to NFTE’s National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in the fall. The third place teen finalist won $500.

Photo: Winners of the St. Louis Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, along with local business leaders. Back row, left to right: Eric Heckman (E&E Enterprises), Siddique Hameed (Mastercard), Juanita Logan (World Wide Technology), Harrison Luvai (Citi), Tim Wentworth (Express Scripts). Front row: O'Ryan Bolden, Cherish Thompson, Chyna Bowen (NFTE), Cassandra Childrey, and Jobir Ahmad-Gol. (Joy Lamb/NFTE)