High school students Gwen Driscoll and Jenelle Frevert had a busy week but it paid off – literally.
Driscoll and Frevert were awarded a total of $20,000 to develop and sell Safe & Sound Spray on May 26 during the second annual Pitch Night at Lake Forest High School. Part of the money came from the Lake Forest High School Foundation and part from investors.
Another group of five students who developed a website, Peach Academics, that connects students with peer tutors also received a total of $20,000 from the foundation, investors and a BMO Private Bank Entrepreneurship award.
While the students in the honors business incubator class had been working all school year on their proposed businesses, it was only on May 20 that the four finalist groups were chosen.
“We stayed up every night past midnight,” Frevert said.
Driscoll and Frevert came up with Safe & Sound Spray, a device aimed at protecting college women on campus from assault. It combines pepper spray, a loud alarm and an ultraviolet spray that tags an attacker for 48 hours. The pair came up with the idea while visiting college campuses.
Peach Academics started with a problem that one of its members, Brandon Rancap, had.
“He had friends who were calling him late at night [for homework help],” said Leo Spano.
The group of five, which also includes Annabelle Capstick, Jon Day and Cameron Litzinger, used that idea as a starting point to create a website that allows high school students to connect with peer tutors. The tutor can be reimbursed with money or school service hours.
Over the course of the school year, students worked with real world mentors and business people. They aimed to cover every aspect of starting up a business including market size, legal requirements, patents or trademarks and competition, said Joe Pulio, business education teacher.
The other two finalists included an electric toothbrush for individuals with conditions that diminish fine motor skills and a device that detects if a car is left running in a closed garage.
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