Howard County High School Students to Compete at 2017 Junior Achievement National Student Leader Summit
The Entrepreneurship Expo will take place on Tuesday, June 20, in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Cannon Caucus Room. The event is open to the public from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT; free refreshments will be served. The general public also can attend the formal student company presentations on Wednesday, June 21, at The Phillips Collection Auditorium, 1600 21st St. NW, from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
The group of Howard County high school students, who ran a company as part of the JA Rising Women entrepreneurship program, will travel to the nation’s capital on June 19-21, to compete with teen entrepreneurs from across the United States. During the three-day event, the young women will have the opportunity to demonstrate their business acumen, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking in a competitive environment—showcasing their company to members of Congress and business leaders.
The students founded Medley, a company that produced “Heart of HoCo,” a compilation book of recipes that celebrates the cultural diversity within Howard County. Medley not only took home the title of JA of Central Maryland Company of the Year at a recent regional competition, but was also selected as one of the 15 team to compete in the NSLS. The 17 students who comprise Medley represent high schools from around Howard County, including River Hill, Mt. Hebron, Centennial, Marriotts Ridge, Howard and Atholton. Five of these students will be selected from the group to compete in D.C.
The 15 NSLS teams will vie for five different awards at the NSLS event. The competition’s top honor is JA Company of the Year powered by The Hartford. First-, second-, and third-place awards will be presented and include scholarships for every student on the winning teams. The student companies will be assessed on their financial performance, individual team members’ personal and professional development, a self-produced commercial about their product or service, their team’s live presentation to a panel of business leaders, and on their company’s performance at an Entrepreneurship Expo on Capitol Hill.