In October 2017, two groups of local high schools students came to 5X to participate in an entrepreneurial workshop designed to increase the students’ awareness and knowledge of the venture formation process, hosted by LaunchNET.
On Monday, October 23, sixteen sophomore and junior-level students from Junior Leadership Hudson (Western Reserve Academy and Hudson High School) visited campus, and on Wednesday, October 25, sixteen junior and senior-level students from Chagrin Falls High School participated.
Lynn Buchinsky, a LaunchNET venture advisor, facilitated multiple hands-on activities for the students, igniting their innovative mindset with challenges, idea generation, brainstorming techniques, and opportunities to pitch their ideas. The students learned about entrepreneurship via a Jeopardy-style game, talking with Sam Graska (MBA candidate) a Kent State student entrepreneur, and working with a number of idea-generation tools. Then student teams collaborated to find solutions for a problem in their schools, which they then presented for prizes.
“It was so great to inspire the students and their teachers, giving them an opportunity to explore innovative solutions to everyday problems,” according to Buchinsky.
Although LaunchNET primarily focuses on students, staff, faculty, and alumni from Kent State, the program also does outreach such as this with interested high school groups, in order to strengthen and smooth the entrepreneurship pathway from high school to college. “We have found that our experience working with college students can be translated well for high school students, and we are glad to be a part of the Kent State community outreach efforts,” says LaunchNET executive director Julie Messing. “Demonstrating the innovation and entrepreneurial focus of the campus is an important part of what LaunchNET is about, and we’re happy to be able to share that with a wide audience.”