By Maile Dunn ’27
At the top of the excitement of the school year, with the end of the Punahou carnival and the approach of the spring holidays, the third, fourth and fifth students embarked on a journey of entrepreneurship, craft creativity and post-vole. The case accelerator for student entrepreneurship (CAS), directed by Yolanda Lau, worked in tandem with the students of the academy and the care program after school (ASC) in Punahou organized a practical experience for young students. Together, they organized a three -day innovation sprint in the Kosasa community inspiration for the benefit of the annual school collection of the school.
The initiative, carried out by the students of the Maile Dunn ’27 Academy, Scarlett Lai ’27 and Sydney Chung ’27, aimed to teach students the bases of entrepreneurship while demonstrating how it can catalyze the beneficial action in the community. And what better way to do this than to focusing the sprint around something we know and all love: Punahou’s carnival.
From March 4 to 6, ASC Ideated students, formed business plans, manufactured prototypes and marketed games inspired by carnival themes. In the introduction presentation, given by Dunn, Chung and Lai, the students were invited to think of their favorite aspects of the Punahou Carnival, whether food, games, rides or prices. Then they had to channel this passion in a game they would like to see at the Carnival.
The last day of the sprint, parents, students and teachers would be invited to pay to play, exchanging canned products for scripts. All goods were to be donated to the collection of food products from the school, which would benefit the advantages of the student workshop for students.
“Entrepreneurship is more powerful when it serves a significant objective,” said Lau. “Student teaching to align innovation with social impact – whether by sustainability, inclusiveness, high school or food security – helps them see that business resolution and problems can be forces for good.
On the first day of the sprint, the student leaders of the academy put things in motion with an introduction to entrepreneurship. Dunn, Chung and Lai explained the “triple result” to students – the three key concepts in this case urges students entrepreneurs to consider constantly when planning a company, and a fundamental aspect of the art of the class of entrepreneurship and the incubator – otherwise known as “3 PS”: people, planet and profit.
“The Table Table Innovation Sprint Upcycle – and each Innovation Sprint put by the case accelerator for students’ entrepreneurship – puts students in a creative way of thinking about society while developing entrepreneurial students.
Students finally trained groups of four to six and started creating business plans. The plan forced them to find a catchy corporate name, to calculate the income, costs and benefits expected, to complete a loan agreement and to consider Why Customers would be attracted by their stand, emphasizing the fact that earning money is only part to manage a business. With the help of volunteer students, such as Kyla Miyamoto ’27 and Jacqueline Kashimoto ’27, they worked together to build a base for a prosperous company. Throughout the sprint, students were encouraged to adopt the entrepreneurial state of mind, which understood to be comfortable with uncomfortable risks, to take cautious and calculated risks, allowing your creativity to flood your work and to be a good teammate.
“I use the entrepreneurial state of mind in all aspects of my business, especially when I think of what I try to accomplish and the way I would like to serve my community.
On the second day of the sprint, students built their games – cutting, stacking and dazzling – using fully recycled materials given by families and staff.
“Sustainability is an integral part of entrepreneurship, the case and our school as a whole,” said Dunn. “By promoting an encouraging, creative and intellectual stimulating environment, we actively feed the problem solving and student pricing. Fascinating what these children have found, using cardboard, tofu containers and glue. »»
In the end, the games were going from sporting configurations (“shooting ‘hoops”) to enchanted floral lights (“The Flower Drop”), and on the day of the mini “carnival”, the inspiration coffee is unleashed with impatient customers, laughs and rapid commercial transactions. After the culmination of their hard work, students calculated profit using their total costs and total income, which they had determined before building their games.
In addition to this, the case of student leaders found it necessary to recognize specific efforts that each group has made. In the end, a period of reflection was associated with a ceremony for the awards ceremony. Students thought about the means that the innovation sprint can benefit from them in the future, voluntary responses such as having acquired improved work ethics, better communication and a lasting state of mind.
Then – The moment of truth: the managers of the academy distributed reward certificates, recognizing the teams in the categories of: the best planning, the creative flair, the ingenious game mechanics and collaboration. And, of course, the participants could not go home without a treat. In the hope of inspiring young students to think of entrepreneurial, students volunteers Audrey Wee ’28 and Tori Takashima ’26 meet and the cookies baked for the participants, by filling their own small businesses. As benefactors and students of cases, they aimed to present a real example of entrepreneurship to a younger audience.
“Case provided students with a mentoring and real experience to give life to their ideas.
While innovation Sprint has conferred knowledge useful to young participants, the student leaders of the Academy also gained something from the experience.
“You must really think in terms of the third year.” Thanks to the sprint, we hope to give students compacted and real experiences on entrepreneurship to inspire them to start their own businesses. “