High Schoolers Invent 'Downstairs' Deodorant For Pitch Contest

BREWSTER, NY — A team from a Brewster High School business class that invented a special genital deodorant for men has won $5,000 from the National INCubator Student Pitch Competition.

They were in Chicago July 11 for the finals, one of five groups out of 60 that entered the competition across the country.

"These amazing High School juniors, Tyler van Niekerk, Kendra Gonzalez, Michelle Mayer, Mark Syrko, and Colin Krebs came up with the idea to create a 'downstairs' deodorant for young male athletes when showering wasn’t an option," a district spokesperson said in an announcement. In only eight months, she said, "Sticks & Stones took the idea and made it a reality! They have already sold over 200 sticks!"

SEE: Brewster High School Team Makes National Finals In Biz Pitch Contest

The class is INCubatoredu Entrepreneurship. It's designed to get students excited about becoming true entrepreneurs by giving them the opportunity to create and fully develop their own products or services. In addition to their teacher, business experts serve as coaches and mentors guiding student teams through the process of ideation, market research, and business plan development.

Over the course of a school year, students learn about the science of marketing and accounting, as well as the legal aspects of starting a business. Teams have access to a network of professionals to develop their skills (teamwork, problem-solving, presentation, communication) for college and career readiness.

Then comes Pitch Week. Student teams pitch their innovative idea to a panel of actual investors, competing to win funding and turn wishful thinking into a reality.

Three groups from Brewster's class pitched ideas for this year's INCubator contest, where the top prize was $20,000.

Sticks & Stones was such a compelling pitch that at the regionals, one of the judges placed a $1,000 order, business teacher Ed Schmidt said in June.

"Our product is great, we put in the time, had dedication to our business, listened to all the customer feedback, made physical improvements to the product, and overall just reached out and got our product out there," Gonzalez said in June.

Their mentors from the community are: Schmidt; Dawn Ruggiero, Director of Marketing of Fincadia Tax Services; and Dr. Lori Wagner-Naughton, Psy. D., Mind Body Soul.

The team members will continue with the class next year, when they will formally create their business as an LLC and learn more strategies to grow their business, the district spokesperson said.

Learn more about the course on the school district website.