Inspiration, Altruism on Display at I.D.E.A. Summit
Bright young minds from across the Langley School District had the opportunity Tuesday to show off their creativity, business savvy and more at the annual I.D.E.A. Summit, which was held at the Langley Events Centre’s Fieldhouse.
From morning through until early afternoon, more than 60 elementary and middle-school vendors showed off and sold their creations, which included everything from wooden toy cars, foosball games, decorative flowers made from pipe cleaners, keychains and more.
“It’s really a chance for kids to be inspired by other kids,” said Kendra Simonetto, director of instruction at the District, who also noted that many of this year’s vendors were originally young attendees at previous I.D.E.A Summits.
“It’s students showing excellence in their learning and inspiring other kids to do the same,” she added.
As in previous years, this year’s entrepreneurs had to create products made from upcycled or recycled materials.
Altruism is also a major part of the I.D.E.A. Summit. For starters, it’s the ‘A’ in I.D.E.A. Summit (which stands for Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship and Altruism). At their school entrepreneur fairs, from which I.D.E.A. Summit sellers were chosen, students donated 10 per cent of their profits to a charity or non-profit group of their choice. At Tuesday’s Summit, 10% of all proceeds were donated to the Langley School District Foundation, which will use funds for, among other things, helping fund future I.D.E.A. Summit events. In total, $1,380 was donated Tuesday.
“It’s such a special day for students to be leaders, to be independent, to see how their hard work can come to play out in this amazing event,” Simonetto said.
Also, once again part of this year’s I.D.E.A. Summit was a team of businesspeople from the community, who served as mentors and judges at the event. They spent time chatting with the young entrepreneurs about their products, their business plans, pitches, and process. At the end of the day, awards were handed out in a variety of categories, including best booth, best business plan, best pitch and new for this year, best pivot – an award given to the student who had to change course at some point in the process and still found success.
The award for Outstanding Booth Design went to William Nesbitt of James Kennedy Elementary, for his Charming Coasters booth, while the Outstanding Business Plan award went to James Dix of Noel Booth Elementary, for his Mystery Rocks booth, which required customers to spin a wheel to determine which “mystery box” they took home.
The Outstanding Interaction with Consumers Award went to Lynn Fripps Elementary’s Adrian Simonov, while Most Innovative Product went to Chloe Gill, also from Lynn Fripps Elementary.
The aforementioned Pivot Award was handed out to Leo Davis from Alice Brown Elementary, who also stood out for one other reason – he wore a hotdog mascot costume, which served as a great promotional tool as it caught the attention of many visitors.
The Top Pitch (Kindergarten to Grade 5) Award went to Langley Fundamental Elementary’s Alexandros Darroudis for his Little Logs Co. while top pitch in the Grade 6-8 category went to James Kennedy Elementary student Jana Halteh, for her A Bunch of Scrunch product.
Two runners up pitch awards, which covered all students from Kindergarten to Grade 8, went to Coghlan Fundamental Elementary’s Maggie Maynard (third place), and Belmont Elementary’s Clara Hartman, who was second.
The final two awards of the day were awarded for Outstanding Idea. The K-5 award went to Maynard, for her Flashy Fire Starters product, while Hartman took home the award in the Grade 6-8 category.
As well, the I.D.E.A Summit also featured booths from secondary students taking part in this year’s IDEA X Challenge, which is a separate event held later this spring. At Tuesday’s event, teams had booths set up where they engaged with visitors on their prompt for this year’s challenge: Design a solution to improve how society consumes and critically evaluates information in the Artificial Intelligence era, considering digital content and culturally traditional knowledge systems – including Indigenous ways of knowing – and their impact on individual and societal trust and understanding.
This year’s IDEA X Challenge finale will be held May 28 at the Langley School Board Office. For more, click here.
To see more photos from the I.D.E.A. Summit, see thumbnails below.
