On the 25th September 2018 five of our learners attended the Bright Ideas Workshop held at the Panorama Hotel. After being served with a buffet style breakfast, the learners participated in various workshops that addressed the topics: What is innovation? What is entrepreneurship? What does it mean to start a business? During the afternoon the learners were given a workshop on how to develop a business pitch, and were given the opportunity to p…ractice pitching their own business proposals that they had prepared for this event.
Learners were then transported to the finish line of the Solar Car Challenge 2018 race, where they met with the Solar Car Team from Switzerland. After a buffet style dinner, the learners had to pitch their ideas at a Cocktail Event held during the evening where the judges made their final decisions and prizes were awarded to the winners of the Bright Ideas Innovation Challenge.
The Cocktail event was attended by The Ambassador of Switzerland, H.E. Mrs Helene Budliger Artieda and her co-hosts, the CEO of the Technology Innovation Agency, Mr Barlow Manilal, the Executive Mayor of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, Ms Eunice Kekana and the Mayor of the Dr. Beyers Naude Municipality, Mr Deon de Vos.
Three Union High School teams entered their proposals for this exciting challenge: Chevonne Prinsloo and Rosslyn Sparks, Erin O’Halloran and Katherine Imrie, Siphesihle Jali and Mandilakhe Matotie. The team of Erin O’Halloran and Katherine Imrie won 3rd place, each receiving a tablet with an attachment keyboard. Siphesihle Jali and Mandilakhe Matotie received the Ambassador’s Award for pitching their “Terminator” proposal. This award gives them the opportunity to apply for the Technology Innovation Agency’s Youth Technology Innovation Programme. If they are successful in this programme they will join the best young entrepreneurs across South Africa to take part in the Swiss Business Development Programme in Cape Town where 10 top entrepreneurs will be selected and flown to Switzerland for another week of training and pitching to experts and investors.
Well done to all of our learners for their courage and innovative ideas. Each school that was represented at this event received a laptop for their participation.