At the UC Irvine ANTrepreneur Center, our mission is to share our love of innovation and entrepreneurship with all students, no matter their age or experience. This is why we’ve recently started outreach with local K-12 schools to get younger students interested in the possibilities of entrepreneurship.
One way that we’re connecting with younger students is through an initiative we call “Junior Shark Tank.” Based on the popular TV show Shark Tank, this program invites elementary school classes to visit our Center, where we teach students the basics of developing a business idea and have them pitch their ideas in a bid to earn imaginary funding. This is a fun and interactive way to introduce students to the main concepts of entrepreneurship and get them to consider a future as innovators and business owners.
Recently, we partnered with Ashley Chen, a recent UC Irvine graduate (Master of Education, 2024) who is now teaching fifth and sixth grade at Magnolia Science Academy-OC, in Anaheim, CA, to bring her students in for a Junior Shark Tank experience. To learn more about the program’s impact, ANTrepreneur Center Director Ryan Foland sat down with Ashley to get insight on her Junior Shark Tank experience.
Ryan: It’s great to see you again, Ashley! Thanks for meeting with me to talk about Junior Shark Tank. Let’s start from the beginning; how did you first hear about the ANTrepreneur Center and the idea of bringing your students here for a Junior Shark Tank experience?
Ashley: Good to see you, too, Ryan! Although I was a grad student at UC Irvine, I first heard about the ANTrepreneur Center from my mentor teacher, Taryn Flamson, who taught at a school under the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. She had all of the sixth-grade classes at her school attend a field trip to the Center to learn about entrepreneurship for their end-of-the-year Shark Tank project. After I graduated from my master’s and credential programs and became a full-fledged teacher, I decided to implement this project into my own class.
Ryan: What was it like working with our team to plan and coordinate this program for your fifth and sixth graders?
Ashley: It was super easy and smooth coordinating with everyone on your team! Everyone was so nice and friendly, and my students had an amazing and memorable experience! Some of my students had never stepped foot on a college campus or had never even thought about attending university, so it was so heartwarming to see them get a sneak peek at life beyond high school.
Ryan: It’s so exciting that we were able to help share the dream of attending college with your students. When you first told them they’d be coming to UC Irvine to learn about entrepreneurship, how did they react?
Ashley: Some of them had never been to Irvine or even outside of Orange, so they were super excited! It was also their first field trip of the year, and they were even more excited to learn more about entrepreneurship, as many of them aspire to become business owners in the future.
Ryan: It’s interesting that some of your students were already interested in being business owners. From your perspective, what’s the general understanding of entrepreneurship at the fifth- to sixth-grade level before they go through something like this?
Ashley: Kids around fifth and sixth grade believe that being a business owner or pursuing entrepreneurship is easy. All you have to do is sell your product, and you’ll make money out of it. However, they don’t realize how hard it is to start a business. They don’t realize that you need to put in time, effort, and possibly your own money to make the business successful.
Ryan: Yeah, while it’s a tough lesson, it’s important to teach students about the realities of being an entrepreneur. What else did your students take away from attending our Ideation Workshop at the Center?
Ashley: I would say that the session was super impactful for my students because they got to collaborate with each other while also trying to build a business model in such a short amount of time. They’d never been challenged in this way before, so it was really exciting to see what their products were at the end of the ideation.
Ryan: After the workshop, your students went back to school and worked in teams to prepare for the Junior Shark Tank pitch event. What kinds of business ideas did they come up with, and do you have a personal favorite?
Ashley: When we got back to school, they were flooded with ideas. Overall, we had about eight groups who made it to the final round of the event! Some of the business ideas that were presented were a smart binder, a college loan credit card company, a speaker that blurred out any bad words on songs, and a backpack that would tell you what you were missing before you left for school. My personal favorite was the smart binder because I wish it had been invented when I was going to school!
Ryan: Now that the program has ended, do you think your students walked away with a better understanding of entrepreneurship? Do you feel like they’ve changed from this experience?
Ashley: I think my students have a much better understanding of what entrepreneurship entails after this experience. Before the program, none of my students realized how hard it would be to even pitch their ideas. Although I warned them they needed to be prepared and to think of questions that the “Sharks” might ask, they didn’t realize how difficult the questions would be. I even had them watch multiple episodes of Shark Tank to help them to understand the questions that the “Sharks” might ask during our final round.
While it was a challenge, it was amazing to see all of my students develop their confidence, creativity, and inspiration in such a short amount of time. Some of my students hate presenting and public speaking. However, when they were pitching their ideas, I would have never guessed that they were terrified to be speaking in front of an audience, let alone a panel of “Sharks.”
Ryan: Would you consider Junior Shark Tank a success?
Ashley: Absolutely! I believe that the confidence and creativity that my students showed made this program a success. It was really amazing to see what my students came up with, and it’s exciting to think about them inventing something the world has never seen before. Hopefully, when they grow up, they will revisit this experience and bring some of their pitch ideas to life!
Ryan: For other teachers and parents, why do you think there’s value in exposing students to entrepreneurship and innovation at a young age?
Ashley: I think it’s so important to expose students to entrepreneurship and innovation when they’re young because it allows them to be creative in their own ways. Many students believe that they are not good in school because of their grades. However, if we can push our students to think beyond this belief, we can encourage them to showcase their intelligence and creativity through different approaches. Entrepreneurship can be that approach for many students.
Ryan: We’re excited to announce that we’ll be doing Junior Shark Tank again. How do you feel about bringing your students back for another round?
Ashley: I feel super excited and have very high expectations! I’m also excited to see what my students bring to the table. This year, we will be doing something a little different where we have all of our fifth- and sixth-grade students participate in this project. Ms. Cabrales, our sixth-grade teacher, loves anything S.T.E.A.M., so she’s super excited for her class to take part in this project!
Ryan: Awesome; we can’t wait to work with you again! To finish this off, what’s one thing you learned about yourself from going through this process alongside your students?
Ashley: One thing that I learned is to trust the process. When my students delivered their pitches before the Semi-Finals and Finals, I was nervous the whole time. But as I watched them, I was amazed by their ingenuity and confidence. After participating in this program, it’s clear that, with just a little support and encouragement, these students will be our future leaders!
Want to learn more about Junior Shark Tank and how you can get involved in this program? Email Director Ryan Foland at rfoland@uci.edu to learn more. Visit the UC Irvine ANTrepreneur Center website to learn more about programming, speaker series, Micro-Internships, funding, and more. You can also learn more about the Center’s collaborations with Blackstone LaunchPad, Tech Coast Angels, Tech Coast Venture Network, OC Startup Council, and SoCal Celebrates Entrepreneurship. Keep up with the Center’s latest news by following them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.