Page 56 - Innovation Delaware 2019

DIAMOND CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS
funding to high school students with innovative entrepreneurial projects.
“It’s a pipeline for innovation,” says Julie Frieswyk, Horn’s assistant director for youth programs.
The Diamond Challenge attracted students from 11 states and 18 countries in 2018. But the winning business con- cept that year came from four students at the Charter School of Wilmington: H2ydratiOn, an environmentally friend- ly filter that can remove lead and other heavy metals from water.
This year, going up against 62 teams from across the U.S. and 21 other coun- tries, two teams from Delaware reached the top 20. “It’s amazing,” says Horn Director Dan Freeman. “For three days, Newark becomes the epicenter of global youth entrepreneurship.”
At the start, students tended to learn about the Diamond Challenge by chanc- ing upon its website, and many still do. Then Strauss and others in the program began visiting high schools, “going classroom to classroom,” to talk up the program. In the process, they began cre- ating enthusiasm among teachers. Now, Frieswyk says, entrepreneurship classes are finding their way into a number of Delaware high schools, including Newark
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Charter, MOT Charter, Appoquinimink, William Penn and Ursuline Academy.
Opportunities for school teams to compete in entrepreneurial competitions also keep expanding: Junior Achievement of Delaware’s Barracuda Bowl Regional Competition was held for the first time in April. Seven teams from Delaware and New Jersey participated. The top three finishers included teams from Caesar Rodney High School in Kent County and Middletown High School in New Castle County.
An outside-the-box initiative
called Dual School, funded primari-
ly by Wilmington businessman Paul McConnell and his wife Linda, has fur- ther fueled the growth of entrepreneurial opportunities for high school students. Dual School participants, drawn from schools throughout New Castle County, meet one afternoon a week in downtown Wilmington to work on their “passion projects” under the direction of Zack Jones, himself a Horn graduate. The students test their theories, build proto- types and, with guidance from mentors, connect with outside experts in their
fields. Dual School has set up one sat- ellite operation at William Penn High School in New Castle, where students can earn credit for taking the class, and will launch another in the fall at the Teen Warehouse, a gathering place and co-working space now under develop- ment in Wilmington.
DELAWARE
PATHWAYS:
HANDS-ON SKILLS
FOR FUTURE
ENTREPRENEURS
The Delaware Pathways program adds another important component to educating the next generation of innovators: industry-specific skills.
Pathways is designed to get students ready to join in-demand careers, beginning in public schools as CTE (career and technical education) programs and continuing through adult education and occupational training.
Students can choose from Pathways in a number of growing fields, including allied health, biomedical sciences, Cisco networking, computer science, energy, engineering and environmental science.
DUAL SCHOOL FOSTERS
‘PASSION PROJECTS’