INCubatorEdu Is A Hit At Brewster High School

INCubatorEdu–a brand new business class at Brewster High School–is a hit. The class is similar to the show Shark Tank, with investors called “sharks” and student entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas looking to impress judges–a group of local community professionals–and get them to invest or win funding to continue their work.

But one of the special perks of the class is that it offers students the opportunity to work with mentors to create their own start-up businesses around a product or service while getting a taste of the real world.

The instructor, Ed Schmidt, who has been in Brewster for 20 years teaching chemistry, environmental studies and research science, is also a serial entrepreneur who brings real life experience to the table.

There are three student companies in Schmidt’s class in various stages of planning for their pitch to the community.

The product: A2B Tracking

The pitch: A bus tracking app for students and parents.

“There are no bus tracking apps that work for all groups. We want to create an app to track the bus so parents and students can have peace of mind by allowing them to view in real-time their school bus location and be in direct communication with the transportation department. Parents and students can plan for delays and receive alerts via notifications,” said group member Lauren Dunn.

Natalia Navarro said, “we took feedback from students and parents and based on the feedback, we have made improvements to the app like linking a button to send communications to the transportation office and special alerts for early dismissals–that we will incorporate. We sent out a survey through Parent Square and had over 150 responses.”

Jim Carey, Senior VP for Sales and Marketing at Clancey Relocation and Logistics, and Melinda Baglio, a lawyer and director of an energy capital management company, are the two mentors for A2B Tracking.

Schmidt explained that, “students even met with Mary Smith, Brewster Transportation Director–she was happy with the idea that parents and the transportation department would all be on the same platform. It would avoid all the parent calls on her end. There would be a help desk ticketing system and a dashboard. It’s a win-win.”

“We are not doing the coding ourselves. If we win the money for investment, we will hire a company to design the app. We have a PowerPoint explaining our idea,” said Cadence Golash.

The product: Corzeman (it’s a combination of the group members' names, Carlos Coronado, Jose Perdomo, and Herman Recinos).  

The pitch: A  comfortable cleat for everyone.

“I’m a soccer player and I have struggled with finding comfortable cleats–my feet are wide–Adidas and Nike just don’t make cleats for wide feet. There’s a gap in the market. We aren’t re-inventing a new shoe, we are going to use stretchy material and memory foam to make our cleats fit and comfortable,” said Carlos Coronado.

Jose Perdomo opened up a cleat which had been cut in half–”right now the insulation is thin, we’ll add grip and foam, we will design it using photoshop to make a rough draft. The plan is to pitch it to the community for money to invest.”

Corzeman is being mentored by Sandy Resnick, a local business woman with Honey-Do-Men and Teresa Izzo-Dortch who has worked in the footwear industry for the last 20 years. 

The product: Sticks & Stones

The pitch: A special deodorant for men

It’s deodorant for men’s nether regions. “It just popped into my head one day, “ said Colin Krebs. “Our target audience is young active men–sporty.”

“We have made a prototype. It’s all natural and smells really good. Now we have to nail down the marketing. Then we can start taking sales. We have pre-orders. We are thinking of making commercials, going on the Morning Brew, and with flyers,” said Mark Syrko.

Dr. Lori Wagner and Dawn Ruggerio are the two mentors for Sticks & Stones. Using their experiences as a psychiatrist and a marketing leader, they are inspiring the students to dig deep and pull out core ideas to strengthen the team and the product.

“Our mentors have guided us through the process,” said Michelle Maher.  One is in the health field and the other is in marketing. When people first hear about our product, it seems like a silly idea, but we need to get past this to get to a bigger audience. Mr. Schmidt has been really helpful too. He had a business of his own–so he's got first-hand experience and actual business connections in the world who come in and speak to our class.”

Jim Carey said, “I did not have any class like this available when I got out of college. I didn’t know what my next step would be. To be entrepreneurial is a lot different than just creating a resume. It took me 15 years before I started doing my own entrepreneurial things. My mom was a nurse and my dad worked for the telephone company. I had no one to guide me. I would have loved to have a class like this.”

Kendra Gonzalez took this class because she wanted to learn skills to run her own business. “I sell desserts outside of school–cake pops, cupcakes, brownies. If I get enough money, I’d like to open my own bakery. “

“I love Mr. Schmidt,” said Mark Syrko. “He is laid back and good with students. We learn so much.  This class has made me want to start my own brand. Like drop shipping. Mr. Schmidt taught us how to make a brand for ourselves. I don’t know my company name yet, but that’s what I want to do. “

Jose Perdomo said, “I like the class because it has allowed me to be creative. This class is great. We have lots of independence. It has given us insight on how to work for ourselves and how to make money,”

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Submitted by Brewster, NY

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