Last weekend, Summit staff participated in Innovation Saturday with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Innovation Saturday is part of NFTE’s World Series of Innovation, presented by Microsoft. The event marks the beginning of the NFTE school year, which Summit will support with in-class volunteers and sponsorship to provide students with materials to learn about what’s needed to start their own businesses.
The event was sponsored by Pitney Bowes and hosted at the Microsoft store in the Pentagon City Mall, where students and volunteers were given demonstrations of the new technology offered by the company. Following these sessions, Summitteers worked with students between ages 12-15 as they collaborated in small groups to brainstorm products and develop business pitches. Using materials such as Legos, ribbon, glue, paper plates, straws, and plastic Easter eggs, these five groups created their products and presented them to the crowd.
The winning team created a “spy fly” that would warn an intruding sibling to get out of the user’s room without having to be present. The fly would have motion sensors to prevent it from flying into walls, also. Summit staff members Sejla Karalic, Eric Miller, and Ann Sun were mentors for the winning team.
As you can see, the students are excited to create practical and innovative products through NFTE. We look forward to working with them in the classroom this fall!
Check out pictures from the event on our Facebook page.