Students Find Inspiration in 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Ed Business Plan Competition

May 22, 2013 - Greeting guests, passing microphones, and pitching in behind the scenes, eight Penn GSE student volunteers clad in navy-blue T-shirts helped to organize the 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition on May 7 and 8 at Penn. In return, they gained inspiration and insight to feed their futures as educators and leaders committed to innovation.

“As an emerging classroom and community educator, I seek to know what ideas are out there, what new innovations are being created, and how I can add them to my teaching toolkit,” says volunteer Christopher Rogers, GED’13, who is enrolled in GSE’s Reading/Writing/Literacy M.S.Ed. program. By watching the competition’s ten finalists present their cutting-edge ideas—such as new technologies for promoting literacy and teaching digital skills—he obtained valuable insight into how new products and programs can make their way to the classroom. “I learned that it is critically important that we find the nexus between the entrepreneur, the classroom teacher, and the researcher in order to create the most optimal environment for global education solutions,” he says.

For volunteer Lauren Wink, GED’13, who aims to combine her passions for business and education, the competition demonstrated that students’ needs must be the driving force of education innovation. “One quote that resonated with me was, ‘Ask the students what they want . . . the product comes later,’” says Wink, who is slated to begin an elementary classroom teaching position at Mastery Charter Schools this fall. A student in GSE’s Reading/Writing/Literacy M.S.Ed. program, Wink holds an undergraduate degree in business administration in addition to her teaching certification.

A head start on her own education venture was an outcome of the event for volunteer Keisha Parker, GED’14, of GSE’s Teaching, Learning, and Leadership M.S.Ed. program. After networking with finalists and investors, Parker emerged with a new meeting on her calendar—a chance to discuss her business plan with an executive who attended. “I enjoyed hearing about new ideas in education,” says Parker, who plans to pursue a research career that will help improve financial literacy in young children. “I learned that even small ideas have big possibilities. I also learned that having good feedback can help create a good product.”