In the News

Four Nikki Rowe High School students turned a family health concern into a product that landed them among the top 10 student startups in the nation.

Food waste is a serious issue facing our country that not everyone may be familiar with. According to the USDA, roughly 30-40% of the national food supply is wasted annually, which equates to nearly 133 billion pounds of food with a value of $161 billion. Yet in 2023, over 18 million households experienced food insecurity.

Back to school looks a bit different for high school students enrolled in the Williamson County Schools Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC). Opened in 2019, the EIC has a state-of-the-art facility with a podcast room, fabrication lab, meeting rooms, and an incubator-style environment and it offers a chance for students to grow in a nontraditional way, to experience real-world business situations. In the EIC, students gain real-world experience in entrepreneurship and innovation by crafting business plans, conducting market research, launching products or services and pitching for funding. Enrollment is determined through an application process that includes short answer questions, teacher recommendations, and an interview. The one common thread among all of the students of the EIC is that the students should have a drive or interest in offering a service, developing a product, starting a business, being an entrepreneur, or thinking outside of the box. 

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Waukesha West High School students swept a national app-making competition – and also tried to reverse an industry trend.

It’s crazy to think that the five of us barely knew each other at this time last year. Our journey with Notifeye, our innovative road safety product we created as part of our high school’s entrepreneurship program, has been incredible. Today, we want to share our story, from the early days of brainstorming to the excitement of winning a national pitch competition.

Entrepreneurship is a long, but rewarding, journey and it requires time, talent, financial resources, and community support to create success.  If I hadn’t taken note of these brothers during my early morning work outs, I would have missed out on discovering the incredible story of DeoBlock and how I could offer guidance and resources for these young entrepreneurs.

NORTH FOND DU LAC (NBC 26)  — What started out as an INCubatoredu class project is now a massive business success, exceeding all expectations. Commah, a line of air fresheners, car diffusers, and essential oils is now sold online and at several local salons and businesses, and will soon have a spot on the shelves of Festival Foods.

Jimmy McDermott’s plans for pursuing consulting while in college changed only moments after his graduation from high school. Thirty minutes after he received his diploma, McDermott, BC ’21, answered a phone call from his superintendent about building a community service tracking app, which he promptly accepted.  

A Marian Central Business Club member has created a new product.
“Senior Matt Cotting, who plans to study aerospace design and technology in college, is our resident 3-D printing guru,” teacher Joe White said. “He first honed his 3-D printing abilities in our INCubatoredu entrepreneur class while he was a sophomore. He really loves all that the 3-D printer can do and has designs in TinkerCAD.”

An entrepreneurship program encouraged a group of students to brainstorm and power through a few roadblocks as they created an app for pet lovers...(Printable article here.)