Nineteen Cuyahoga Heights High School (CHHS) students learned to develop the creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurial skills needed to succeed in the world of business at the Thinkfest Ideation Workshop. The CHHS students were among 80 students in total from Solon, Painesville, Lake Ridge Academy, and Beaumont School, who attended the workshop held at John Carroll University on October 7.
Leading the workshop was Dr. Jeffrey Stamp, currently assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of North Dakota. For more than 25 years, Dr. Stamp, the creator of “Baked! Lays Potato Chips”, “Frito Lay”, and other popular American snacks, has helped business professionals and students worldwide to hone their creative abilities and develop the entrepreneurial mindset needed to recognize, develop, and pitch business ideas.
Divided into groups alongside their peers from other high schools, the CHHS students learned to transform their ideas into innovative products. They incorporated artificial intelligence to move from concept to design. The day’s event concluded with an open “marketplace,” where students voted on one another’s inventions. CHHS’s Zander Meriwether and Addison Deka were members of the team with the winning idea – “Dry N Go” — a portable canister designed to quickly dry wet sports gear, beach attire, and more. Each team member was awarded a $25 Amazon gift card for their creativity and teamwork.
In addition to Meriweather and Deka, other CHHS participants included Gavin DeBolt, Jasmin Figard, Kyle Goines, Mariama Hopkins, Austin Hunter, Damian Jones, Nolan Juhnke, Laila Lengyel, Isiah Lors, Nate Melendez, Caleigh Rusch, Celia Suma, Addison Stoltz, Paige Stoltz, Zander Tichy, Kurtis Van Divner, and Arianna Wittingen.
“Though only one team won the top prize, every participant walked away with hands-on experience, fresh ideas, and a deeper understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Julie Regula, career specialist. Regula accompanied the CHHS students to the workshop along with Jordan D’Orazio, student engagement specialist.
The annual ThinkFest workshop was sponsored by the Veale Foundation and created in partnership with John Carroll University’s Entrepreneurship Program. The event featured three one-day workshops which brought together students from different local high schools each day.