School students from Ballarat and the surrounding region are preparing to pitch their ideas that address community and world problems in a showcase event on Thursday.
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Eight students from four schools have used newly learnt entrepreneurial skills to develop a solution to a problem they care about as part of the Upstart Challenge.
The students from Loreto College, Mount Rowan Secondary College, Ballarat Grammar and Bacchus Marsh Grammar met together as a group for the first time on Friday for a mentoring and masterclass maker day.
They refined their ideas with Ballarat business mentors, developed prototypes and prepared to pitch their idea to the public.
Upstart Challenge co-founder Jenny Perks said the students had showed commitment, persistence and an ability to self-direct their learning through the difficult period of homeschooling.
"A lot of it has been self learned and self guided which I think is a strength and something to commend them for," she said.
One group or individual from each participating school was selected to take part in the Upstart program in September, in some cases after presenting an initial pitch of their idea to their class.
We all know how quickly the pace of change is accelerated so to have students who have that thinking process and that resilience is important.
- Jenny Perks, Upstart Challenge co-founder
They progressed through online learning modules supplied by the Upstart team and were asked to come up with big ideas to bring positive change to the world.
Sarina Russo Entrepreneurship facilitator Dr Paul Miller, Inspire HQ recruitment strategist Rachael Brown Uncover Magazine managing editor and Platypus Coworking founder Samantha Davies worked with students at the Flecknoe Building on Friday.
"Having the opportunity for students to get face to face with business owners, our mentoring team and our team has been really invaluable," Upstart co-founder Heather Kelly said.
"Critical thinking skills are absolutely massive in this day and age," Ms Perks said.
"We all know how quickly the pace of change is accelerated so to have students who have that thinking process and that resilience is important.
"Part of what they have done here today is be able to take on board feedback that changes their thinking."
The Mount Rowan Secondary College team
Mount Rowan Secondary College Year 10 students Mia Flynn and Zari Collins became involved in the Upstart Challenge through their business class.
They identified children not doing enough physical activity as a problem in the community.
"Kids aren't being as active as they used to be before the 2000s and that it is leading to more problems that will eventually won't be able to be fixed like obesity," Mia said.
"Australia is number one in the world for child obesity at 28 per cent so there will be a point where that is irreversible."
Mia and Zari developed an idea for a community-based physical activity program called Sports For Kids to be run using school facilities three or four times a week.
"We are trying to use schools to open up to the community, so students who live around there who don't go to that school can still get active at a reasonable cost," Mia said.
"I don't think it is going to fix obesity but it is a starting point.
"It will also get communities and neighbours talking and it will get the kids making friends from different school and really make it a more social community."
The Ballarat Grammar team
Grade 6 Ballarat Grammar pupils Eleanor Justin and Olivia Beechey started their Upstart journey by completing an entrepreneurship unit of inquiry with their teachers and classmates.
The pair chose to focus on the issue of drowning deaths in Australia, a topic that upset them as they were both passionate swimmers.
Their solution is a device called a rescue watch.
"It is like a Garmin or a Fitbit but instead of a screen it is just a button," Olivia said.
"If you hold the button down for three to five seconds the lifeguards in the lifeguard tower will have a screen with all the rescue watches which will be green dots."
"It will be green dots if you are safe but once you press this for three to five seconds it will start beeping and change to red," Eleanor said.
"Then the lifeguards will be able to pinpoint your exact location because of the GPS tracker in your watch.
"They will be able to help save them because any seconds in the water when you are drowning can be a matter of life and death."
Olivia and Eleanor worked to create a 3D model on an app with the help of mentors on Friday and will use the model to print a prototype on a 3D printer at their school.
The Bacchus Marsh Grammar team
Bacchus Marsh Grammar Year 9 students Zoe Daniel, Carmen Miguelez Gallardo and Josh Dimeri combined their interest in electricity with concerns about problems in the world to decide their focus topic.
The team chose to create a solution to help children in poor villages that do not have access to power.
"We have decided to make a box that generates electricity through the currents of water. It uses natural resources and it is renewable clean energy," Zoe said.
Carmen said their business model was to sell the portable power packs to people who enjoyed fishing and camping to have power while by the river and they would donate one pack to a rural community for each sale.
Josh said their idea was better than other portable power products on the market because it was easier to carry around, came with a storage battery and could generate power at any time.
Carmen said the Upstart process had shown them how to plan, how to set goals and improve time management, teamwork and communication.
The team said it was challenging to keep up communication and good time management during home learning periods but they wanted to be a part of the program to make a change.
"We wanted to make a change because at this stage it is pretty hard to make an impact you can look at and go hey, I did something," Carmen said.
"It is also difficult in this day and age with all the things going on."
Loreto College team
Loreto College Year 10 student Beth Wright elected to be a part of the Upstart Challenge.
She chose to focus on the environmental cost of packaging and products in the beauty industry.
Her solution is to create an app that scans barcodes on products and provides information about the environmental impact of the product.
The app would tell the consumer where the product comes from and if it contains chemicals that could be harmful to the user or the environment.
"As a teenager, I am looking for different skin care products and perfumes," Beth said.
"There is such a variety but to not be able to know which one to choose because you don't know whether it has come from palm oil or been tested on animals, to not know that makes it a lucky dip."
Beth said she had learnt how big the world's plastic problem was and the size of the beauty industry throughout the process.
"It has also taught me different business skills, ways to work with other people and design different things," she said.
The pitch event
Upstart Challenge participants will record a video pitch of their solutions to real-world problems which will be played during an online showcase event on Thursday.
Members of the public can watch the online showcase.
Recording of the student pitches will be played followed by a live question and answer with the judging panel.
Upstart co-founders Ms Perks and Ms Kelly, Commerce Ballarat chief executive Jodie Gillett and Buninyong Community Bank chair Ian Corcoran will form the judging panel.
The winning students will receive a $1000 prize and viewers will be able to vote for the people's choice award.
READ ABOUT LAST YEAR'S WINNER: Students' innovative idea for cycling safety wins Upstart Challenge
"This is a great opportunity for the students to try something a bit different and learn by mistakes which is what it is all about," Ms Kelly said.
"It is giving them the opportunity to do that and say it is okay."
Ms Perks thanked community support for the program, including funding from Buninyong Community Bank.
"What we say is this is the pipeline of talent for Ballarat and for the region so we need to invest in our young people now from an early stage," she said.
Visit trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=661125 to attend the student showcase.