Accompanied by Mr. Golding, Jaylen competed in the national level of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship's business pitch competition last week in New York City. Mr Golding said....'There were 50 students in the competition and while he did not advance beyond the quarterfinal round, he did such a great job representing our school. He had to pitch his business in front of 5 judges who were all high ranking people across different fields of business. His presentation went really well. The Q&A portion for most of the students seemed combative as they tried to defend their ideas. However, Jaylen's turned into a collaborative experience where the 5 judges were excited about his idea and working with him to make it even better.'
After the pitch competition, there was an expo booth event where the students could set up a table about their businesses and even sell their products. Jaylen's art was very popular and many people were stopping by. He even made a few sales! One of which was one of his judges from earlier who is in the art business. They spoke for 5-10 minutes and exchanged business cards. He seemed to want Jaylen to go to NYC for art school.
Mr, Golding also says.....'Jaylen was networking and making friends and represented everything we want our students to be. He was demonstrating all the SOAR characteristics and so much more. It was definitely one of the coolest (and most fun) moments of my teaching career so far.'
If you see him in the halls this week, make sure to congratulate him and ask about the trip! Also, it was his birthday Sunday, so wish him a happy, belated 18th birthday!
