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<strong>OP</strong>Prairie.com news<br />
the orland park prairie | April 25, 2019 | 3<br />
Meadow Ridge’s fourth-graders pitch to<br />
professionals during Entrepreneur Expo<br />
Laurie Fanelli<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
For the past decade, the<br />
reality show “Shark Tank”<br />
has inspired new entrepreneurs<br />
to dip their toes into<br />
the waters of business.<br />
On Thursday, April 18,<br />
14 fourth-grade enrichment<br />
students at Meadow<br />
Ridge School stepped into<br />
the tank — also known<br />
as the multipurpose room<br />
— to pitch local business<br />
owners to invest in their<br />
companies and products<br />
during the Entrepreneur<br />
Expo: Shark Tank Style.<br />
The program showcased<br />
the many talents of these<br />
young innovators, who<br />
offered solutions to everyday<br />
problems, such as reducing<br />
waste, entertaining<br />
pets and hydrating while<br />
playing sports.<br />
Enrichment resource<br />
teacher Lauren Musielewicz<br />
said students began<br />
learning beginner business<br />
concepts more than a year<br />
ago.<br />
“In third grade, I introduce<br />
them to some basic<br />
economics, like wants versus<br />
needs, goods versus<br />
services, productive resources,<br />
choice and opportunity<br />
cost,” Musielewicz<br />
said. “We review that in<br />
fourth grade, and then we<br />
move on to higher-level<br />
economics concepts.”<br />
Profit and loss, entrepreneurship,<br />
business plans,<br />
market surveys and more<br />
were among the areas explored<br />
by the fourth-graders<br />
as they developed their<br />
products. Also, elements<br />
of math, science and social<br />
studies — students study<br />
regions to learn about<br />
where resources are found<br />
and produced — are combined<br />
as children in the enrichment<br />
program develop<br />
their products.<br />
“First, they come up<br />
with something that bugs<br />
them — what is it that really<br />
bothers them that they<br />
want to solve,” Musielewicz<br />
said. “From there,<br />
they create the name for<br />
their product, a logo and<br />
slogan. They come up with<br />
start-up costs, so they do<br />
a lot of research on what<br />
it would take to actually<br />
build their product.”<br />
Students also created<br />
their own websites and<br />
marketing plans.<br />
Yazhi Paguntalan’s<br />
product was designed as a<br />
delicious solution to preventing<br />
waste.<br />
“My product is called<br />
Yum Cones,” Paguntalan<br />
said. “They’re edible popcorn<br />
containers. They’re<br />
all natural, and they’re not<br />
like other popcorn containers,<br />
where you just eat the<br />
popcorn and you throw it<br />
away after.”<br />
She added that Yum<br />
Cones are available in apple<br />
flavor and are the perfect<br />
item for anyone who<br />
likes to watch movies.<br />
“If I would expand into<br />
a real business, I would<br />
sell to Marcus Theatres,<br />
because I realized that<br />
when everyone walks out<br />
of a movie, there’s this one<br />
guy who holds out the garbage<br />
can for them to throw<br />
away their popcorn containers,”<br />
Paguntalan said.<br />
Zain Shalabi also wanted<br />
to make a common item<br />
greener with his Walk N<br />
Charge solar-powered<br />
backpack.<br />
Please see shark, 4<br />
Meadow Ridge fourthgrader<br />
Zain Shalabi<br />
shows off his solarpowered<br />
product, the<br />
Walk N Charge, on<br />
Thursday, April 18, during<br />
the school’s Entrepreneur<br />
Expo: Shark Tank Style.<br />
Laurie Fanelli/22nd<br />
Century Media<br />
To view more<br />
photos online,<br />
visit www.<strong>OP</strong>Prairie.<br />
com<br />
Orland Township Supervisor Paul O’Grady is proud to present<br />
SOME OF THE<br />
PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES<br />
ORLAND TOWNSHIP’S<br />
SPRING<br />
JOB FAIR<br />
TUESDAY, APRIL 30<br />
10AM TO 1PM<br />
14807 S. RAVINIA AVE.<br />
ORLAND PARK<br />
MEET EMPLOYERS | GATHER INFORMATION | APPLY TO JOBS!<br />
Join us at Orland Township for the opportunity to meet with possible<br />
future employers. There will be over 30 companies attending the fair.<br />
Business casual attire recommended, and bring several copies of an<br />
updated resume.<br />
Visit Orland Township’s website (www.orlandtownship.org),<br />
or call Alexis at (708) 403-4222, for an updated listing of<br />
participating businesses.<br />
Bring plenty of resumes<br />
and dress to impress<br />
Part-time, Full-time,<br />
Entry Level and<br />
Professional Positions<br />
ABF Freight<br />
Allied Universal Security<br />
American School Bus<br />
Company<br />
Aqua Tots Swim Schools<br />
ASG Staffing - Light<br />
Industrial Staffing<br />
Best Practices Staffing<br />
Burke Beverage, Inc.<br />
Cintas Corporation<br />
Clearwater Paper<br />
FedEx Ground<br />
First American Bank<br />
Hollywood Casino<br />
Amphitheatre<br />
Home Instead Senior Care<br />
Indian Oaks Academy (Nexus)<br />
Kowalis Auto Group<br />
(Lexus of Orland)<br />
Marquette Bank<br />
Meats by Linz, Inc.<br />
Menards, Inc.<br />
NuMark Credit Union<br />
Pace Suburban Bus<br />
Primerica Financial Services<br />
Providence at Home<br />
Providence Life Services<br />
Reliable Fire & Security<br />
Sahara Home Care<br />
Saint Xavier University<br />
Schillings, Inc.<br />
Speedway LLC<br />
Tinley Park Holiday Inn &<br />
Convention Center<br />
UChicago Medicine<br />
United States Army<br />
United States Postal Service<br />
Versiti Blood Centers<br />
of Illinois<br />
Visiting Angels<br />
Western & Southern Life
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