Joliet Chamber spotlights local students ‘Shark Tank’ innovation work

The Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s newest education program brought exciting and innovative student ideas to life using “Shark Tank” style presentations.

Students in Joliet-area junior highs recently created innovative ideas for products, projects and services that could enhance the overall quality of their school and/or the experience of students while at school.

This innovation competition presented by Lewis University and Legat Architects featured a project-based learning challenge that incorporated critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Students demonstrated these skills by developing an innovative project with a team and utilizing persuasive techniques in preparing a pitch for the innovation.

Judges reviewed and evaluated the presentations and ideas in late October, narrowing the pool of projects down to the four most innovative. Students involved in the projects then worked to refine their ideas before presenting them once again in front of a panel of “Sharks” on Monday.

The finalists were:

Cathedral of St. Raymond School – STEM Lab

After recently being gifted a 3D printer, students of the Cathedral of St. Raymond School whipped up the idea to create and enhance a new “STEM Lab” centered on the printer for students to explore topics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Their proposal requested funding for printer materials, a 3D scanner and more.

St. Mary Nativity School – Upgrading the Science Lab

Students from St. Mary Nativity School requested an upgrade to their current science lab. This included elements as basic as new chairs to a more advanced portable greenhouse. Elements requested would enhance their learning via a hands-on approach. The new materials would also be accessible by all junior high students at the school.

St. Paul the Apostle School – The Willow Room

Students of St. Paul the Apostle School need a quiet place with ambient sound/music, a place to color or draw, to exercise or fidget and something to squeeze and hold due to increased levels of anxiety in students. The Willow Room solves each need by converting an un-used classroom to an anxiety-relieving safe-haven for students. The Willow Room would provide refuge for students, a place to calm down and collect themselves before returning to class and continuing on with their day.

Washington Junior High School – CHEWelry

Washington Junior High School students in the “Spark Tank” Club documented an increase of anxiety in students which have caused a number of deplorable coping mechanisms with one resounding theme – chewing. Students often take to chewing the ID badges hung around their necks along with the lanyards used to fasten them there. They unlawfully chew gum and even resort to chewing their own fingernails. As a result, the students proposed a healthier and more effective alternative: a food-grade silicon CHEWelry item offered to each student at the beginning of Junior High.

The event concluded with St. Paul the Apostle School’s Willow Room announced as the winner of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Inaugural Innovation Competition. The school will receive $3,000 to complete the project idea at their school within the next year!