Written by WVUA 23 News Reporter Lyric Franklin
Central High School hosted an Entrepreneurship Showcase that gave students an opportunity to showcase their talents and ideas. There were businesses creating shirts, bracelets, cakes, Rotel dips, and just about anything you could think of.
Central High School has an entrepreneurship class where students can work with their teachers to create a name, business plan, and business pitch for their own company. The school hosted a showcase for students to show off what they had been working on throughout the school year.
Central High School Principal Teresha Jones said this is a great experience and opportunity for the students.
“Today is such a great day because we want to give kids who are interested in entrepreneurship and who have different gifts and talents the opportunity to showcase that not only to their classmates, but also to community members and faculty. It’s something they can do and look forward to in the future.” Jones said.
The school invited judges including TCS Superintendent Mike Dalia, District 7 Tuscaloosa City Councilman Cassius Lanier, and District 1 City Councilman Matthew Wilson. The judges were responsible for listening to the students’ pitches and deciding which businesses they wanted to invest in. One of the businesses he showcased was called BTK (short for Born Through Knowledge). A group of four students created a brand and won a business grant
The business’s CEO, Jahmila Baker, says the power of knowledge inspired her to start the business.
“The inspiration behind this business is that we want everyone to seek knowledge because it comes from knowledge and knowledge is something everyone should acquire,” Baker said.
Central High School realized that many students have talent but are too shy to talk about it, so they created this showcase to give them the platform they need.
“I’m really grateful to our mentors, Ms. Winston in general, and Dr. Kim, because she really helped us a lot. A lot happened in this process, but everything was perfect,” Baker said.
BTK is grateful for the school’s support and ability to make the showcase a reality.
Councilman Matthew Wilson says he wants to provide some discretionary funding for Central High School’s entrepreneurship program and ultimately work with other school board members to ensure sustainability through partnership funding.
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