The freshmen and sophomore students in Mr. Lansman's Speech class all participated in a fun collaborative final project involving public speaking and entrepreneurship. All students had to design their own product or service that they then had to create a Sales Pitch for. Each student created their own presentation, commercial, posters, and in some cases actual models or designs of their ideas. The class voted on the top ideas and six finalists were chosen to compete in a presentation that was modeled off of ABC's show "Shark-Tank". "I wanted to find a fun way for the students to show off their creativity and their ability to speak in public," said Ben Lansman who is the Speech Instructor & Coach at Ord Public Schools. "We all thought that recognizing the top ideas and having them compete in our own version of Shark Tank was a perfect way to do this. I'm very proud of all our students and how well thought out their ideas were." The six finalists were: Maya Brown with "The Nozie Cozie" that is a nose warmer designed like a Breathe-Right strip, Grady Sheets with the website service "LifeVice" that offers advice and answers to anyone on any topic, Hannah Masin with "CozyToez" which is a foot warming and massaging gel insole for shoes, Allie Moudry with "Motivation Ninja" which is an app designed to encourage uplifting quotes and messages and offer help with bullying and motivation, Nikie Nelson with the "Super Shower Cleaner 3000" machine that cleans your shower automatically, and Marlee Nebesniak with the app "Greenhouse Grocery" that allows customers to purchase fresh fruits and veggies from specific greenhouses and have them shipped to your doorstep. Each finalist was given a team of 6-8 other students to work with them and develop a new group presentation/advertisement of their product/service. They then presented to the student body and five community "Sharks" who helped judge the competition. The "Sharks" included: Becky Ries - Executive Director of the Valley County Health System Foundation, Ryan Broker - Director of Community Relations for U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, Kristina Foth - Asst. Dir. of the Ord Chamber and Valley County Economic Development, Johnny Ference - 9-12 Ag. Instructor, Wrestling/Football coach, and FFA sponsor at Ord Public Schools, and Brian Magiera - Sales District Leader at American Family Insurance. The finalists were all given ten minutes to present their product/service and answer questions from the Sharks about their idea. The judges then deliberated and chose the top teams based off of creativity, usability, ability to answer questions, and best overall presentation. Winning 3rd place was Allie Moudry "Motivation Ninja", Nikie Nelson "Super Shower Cleaner 3000" was the runner-up, and the champion was Marlee Nebesniak with "Greenhouse Grocery". "These students all did a fantastic job and I could not be more proud of their efforts" said Lansman. "I want to thank the administration and staff at OHS for allowing this to take place during school and supporting the activity! Also thanks to our "Sharks" who took time out of their busy schedules to help bring this to fruition!"
CAPTION for Champion & Runner Up Team Pic
Front Row: Blake Wells (Team SSC3000), Ashton Key (Team SSC3000), Johnny DeRiso (Team SSC3000), Katrina Hulinsky (Team Greenhouse Grocery), Klancy Bower (Team Greenhouse Grocery), Jeremiah Edzards (Team Greenhouse Grocery)
Back Row: Grey Smith (Team SSC3000), Annie Struckman (Team SSC 3000), Macy Warner (Team SSC3000), Nikie Nelson CEO of Super Shower Cleaner 3000 - Runner Up, Marlee Nebesniak CEO of Greenhouse Grocery, Shaylee Jacobs (Team Greenhouse Grocery), Will Grint (Team Greenhouse Grocery), Shayla Neel (Team Greenhouse Grocery), Jacob Stam (Team Greenhouse Grocery)
