by Cliodhna Harvey
Last Wednesday 19th October, Donegal ETB held their Enterprise Day for schools and Youthreach centres from across the county in the LYIT. The aim of the day was to introduce entrepreneurship to students with the support of Donegal entrepreneurs in a fun and exciting way.
Highland Radio’s Lee Gooch started the day on a good note with some ice-breaking games, which set the tone of the day. Guest speaker Jenni Timoney took over, telling the students how “with hardwork and resilience, you can do anything”. The faces of the ambitious students proved how inspiring and motivational Jenni’s speech was. Gerard Grant, Vice President of Pramerica followed with a speech of his own on what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
Each school was then given a business mentor and an LYIT business student to help and guide them through the day. They were then given items including balloons, sellotape, plastic cups, reflective material, plastic and much more, which they had to use to develop a product.
The standard and talent in the room was exhilarating, as each team worked together to create a unique product of their own.
Following an action-packed morning, another entrepreneur, Ian Harkin of Lottie Dolls, spoke to participants on how to pitch an idea. After this, teams worked on their pitches and were then taken to deliver their pitches to the judges in a Dragon’s Den set-up.
On return, teams were greeted back with entertaining games by staff from Gartan Outdoor Education Centre. While students were playing these games, the judges were struggling with deciding which teams should make the final three, due to the exceptional standard.
The three finalists had to pitch their ideas to all 200 students who were taking part in the Enterprise Day. The talent and enthusiasm from each team was excellent, making it a very hard decision for the judges to choose their winner.
However, Carndonagh Community School came out on top, with their idea of a pen that you use to highlight your work that would then save the highlighted information into your computer.
Every student thoroughly enjoyed their day and walked away with a better knowledge on what life is really like being an entrepreneur.
The participating schools and Youthreach centres were Abbey Vocational School, Donegal Town; Carndonagh Community School; Colaiste Ailigh, Letterkenny; Colaiste Chineal Eoghan, Buncrana; Colaiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon; Crana College, Buncrana; Deele College, Raphoe; Errigal College, Letterkenny; Finn Valley College, Stranorlar; Gairmscoil Chu Uladh, Ballinamore; Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, Arranmore; Magh Ene College, Bundoran; Mulroy College, Milford; Rosses Community School; Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana; Youthreach Buncrana/Glengad and Youthreach Gortahork.
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