High School Teacher Uses “Shark Tank” Model In Classroom Project

Provided by the Bristol Township School District:

For the past seven years, ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank” has inspired entrepreneurs all over the county to pitch their business to a panel of “sharks” in the hope of getting a deal. Harry S. Truman High School Business Teacher Angela Owarzani decided to take that format and apply it to her Introduction to Business class and organized a Shark Tank Lite for her students.

While the bright lights of television cameras and the actual “sharks” from the show were not present, there was still plenty of strong business pitches presented to a panel of teachers, who put the students through the same paces as participants on the actual show. Each group of students had two weeks to develop a business or product and identify key information such as price, demographics, competition, mission statement, and marketing strategy.

Among the businesses the students came up with were Digital Dashboard, a technology company for cars, Perfect Fit, a shoe company specializing in sneakers that grow, and MJK Party Planning, a completely customizable party planning service.

Owarzani, a fan of  “Shark Tank,” realized that the show’s format would fit well into a project for her class and she wanted her students to understand how much work goes into creating a business from the start.

The students fully embraced the  “Shark Tank” format in their presentations while negotiating with the panel of teachers in the hopes of getting an investor for their business, with two of the three teams securing a deal. Many of the students agreed that the  “Shark Tank” theme was a fun twist on the typical class presentation. “The theme was cool, and we were able to be really creative and walk away with a deal” said Kevin Quinn from team Perfect Fit.

This was the first year that Owarzani used the  “Shark Tank” format in her class, and she is hoping to improve upon it each year. “So far I’ve seen some really good ideas from the students. My goal is to take maybe three or four of the best ideas and have those groups present in front of the whole school for some sort of prize,” said Owarzani.