TAUNTON - Superintendent John J. Cabral is pleased to share that three teams representing Taunton competed at the Junior Achievement Business Pitch Competition at UMass Dartmouth's Charleton School of Business on April 24.
Taunton was represented by Keychain Kreations and T-Tags from Taunton High School, advised by business teacher Jesse MacPhail and Upcycles R Us from Taunton Alternative High School, advised by science teacher Laura Palumbo. The other five teams were from Fall River and New Bedford.
For the competition, teams were tasked with identifying a need in their community and starting a company or business to address that need. Teams were given two minutes to present their company and answer questions before a panel of judges. Teams were judged on things like their target market, strategy and financial projections.
“Having three teams compete is a real point of pride for Taunton,” said Superintendent Cabral. “One of our core goals is to provide students with engaging, real-world and rigorous learning opportunities and Junior Achievement does just that. These students are learning practical skills with real-life application.”
Keychain Kreations placed third in the competition. Team members Jocelyn Gomes, Asiah Daveiga, Hailey Powell, Rodger Dias and Anthony Lopes sold handmade macrame key chains. They raised more than $1,000 and chose to donate 10 percent to a mental health charity.
T-Tag team members Ryan Keenan, Delano Costa, Jaydan Harris, Connor Goranson and Xavier Spencer made $750 by selling personalized bag tags for backpacks.
Both Taunton High teams started their projects in October and worked on them every Friday during class.
Taunton Alternative High School’s Upcycles R Us team of Neveah Ellis, Evelyn Miller, Isabelle Saint Claire and Isabelle Tu created keychains and jewelry from discarded plastic to keep it out of landfills. Students began the project in December and met for nearly two hours on Fridays. Upcycles R Us earned $320 in sales and plans to expand the business to keep as much plastic out of landfills as possible.
All products are still available for purchase at each respective school.
About Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.
Junior Achievement’s programs, which focus on the key content areas of financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship, ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.