E-Squared prepares students for business

I was at an early morning meeting at the Starbucks in Culpeper on April 2 and a group of students were there gearing up for the day.

I couldn’t help but overhear that they were nervous about something and were hoping that a favorite formulation from Starbucks might just calm their jitters. It turns out that they were getting ready for the first round E-Squared (Entrepreneurial Energy) competition being held that morning at Culpeper County High School and at Eastern View High School in Culpeper County. “How is it going?” said one student to another. “E-Squared this morning!” was the reply as she focused on her cup of energy. The other student quickly acknowledged and smiled “Me too!”

The energy did not stop there. I had the opportunity to watch a few of the presentations by the teams of students at Culpeper County High School. The students made excellent presentations. Our Career and Technical Department instructors had the students prepared.

They received last minute instructions for their presentations as they waited for their turn to introduce their ideas and plans to the judges. They walked into the room like they were walking into a boardroom ready to meet their new venture capital partners. They were confident, poised, made good eye contact, and made their case for their new business idea. They used power point presentations showing different aspects of the ideas including marketing plans, financial projections, operational structure, and concluded with a request for justified capital to launch and sustain the business. Wow, these are our high school students.

I watched as the judges listened carefully to the presentations. They were able to ask questions about the plans and give feedback about the feasibility of the ideas. The interaction between the students and the judges was the best part. There was learning and inspiration for both the students and the judges.

There were so many great ideas that had such potential. “This is what Career Partners is all about” commented one of the judges after one of the presentations. One student commented that he did not know any of his team before the competition.

“These are all great people and they are great to work with” he stated about his teammates.

It takes a great deal of courage to make such a presentation to a group of community business leaders. Thirty teams of five to six students achieved this yesterday. The teamwork with the Culpeper County Schools — Career and Technical Department and Career Partners Inc. resulted in a very smooth and productive day for all. The commitment from the business community was outstanding.
Over 15 business leaders dedicated their morning to supporting the program by judging the presentations. “Today was great” commented one of the Career Partners and “I have a list of things that we can do better next year.”

The final competition will be held on April 30. The five teams that will compete will have a few weeks to refine their presentations. There is a great deal of pride in this competition. It is great to see entrepreneurial energy emerging with such passion here in Culpeper.