Students go green to make their mark
Youngsters from Nuneaton’s George Eliot School have come up with a green idea that they hope will take them all the way to a national award.
Last week (12 – 16 November) saw the return of National Enterprise Week, and on Monday students and businesses from all over the country took part in a national one-day enterprise competition called the ‘Make Your Mark Challenge 2007’.
Nationally the challenge was co-ordinated by The Make Your Mark Campaign in collaboration with the National Education Business Partnership Network and supported by the DTI.
Thousands of teams took part in schools, colleges and universities all on the same day across the UK. Last year 20,000 young people were involved and this year’s event was on track to be even bigger. Locally, George Eliot School, a Business and Enterprise College in Nuneaton was competing with teams from Year 10, looking forward to ‘Making their Mark’.
The challenge, this year titled “Can You Rule The Roost?” was not revealed until 9am on Monday, at which time the Warwickshire Education Business Partnership was on hand to set the students off on their task for the day.
Several business representatives from the local area were at the school to guide the students, but this was in a facilitation role only as the students were given the space and responsibility to develop their own ideas.
Cllr Chris Saint, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, said: “The Education Business Partnership is doing great work in reaching pupils at all kinds of ages to get them ready for the world of work in the years to come.
“Many varied business representatives give up their time to ensure these events are as real as possible.”
The challenge was to come up with an idea, that could be a product to sell, spaces or places put to better use, or perhaps a service they’ll provide. The students had to identify a local need or specific target audience and demonstrate how their idea will or could have a far-reaching, global impact and how it will make money.
A winning group was chosen at George Eliot School at the end of the day on Monday. This team came up with the idea of setting up a business called ‘Recycl’a Bin’ and they will go forward into the next round to be judged by a panel and the best 20 teams from each region will go forward to the Regional Finals. From there, the winning teams will have the opportunity to develop their ideas further at the National Final.
The event has been co-ordinated by the Warwickshire Education Business Partnership, working as part of Warwickshire County Council with businesses and schools to help address the constant demand from employers for school leavers to be ‘work ready’.
If you would like further information on the various initiatives organised by the Warwickshire Education Business Partnership, or would like to get involved with an event, please contact the Northern Area Office on 024 7632 5336.