It’s a mantra High Wire employees hear frequently, that defines the company mission—to build something great and allow people to be the best version of themselves.

Lewisville High School (Lewisville Independent School District) students, participating in the INCubatoredu program, competed in their Final Pitch Night at the Technology, Exploration & Career Center - West in Lewisville, Texas on April 25, 2024. Hopeful entrepreneurs were vying for a total of $5,000 in seed funds to help take their business to the next level. The program is in its sixth year, sponsored by financial contributions from Mary Kay, Inc., City of Lewisville, and M.R. & Evelyn Hudson Foundation.

Club member Andrea, 16, was nervous. She had never pitched a business idea before – let alone to four business mentors with decades of experience and companies that are valued in the millions.

A group of high school students visiting the Farmer School of Business isn’t terribly unusual or particularly noteworthy. But last week’s visit by entrepreneurship students from five Cincinnati-area high schools highlighted a decade-long connection between the Farmer School and Uncharted Learning, a program to “provide schools with comprehensive curriculum, teacher training, and support services to help students develop adaptable, real-world skills.”

The popular television show "Shark Tank" made its way out of California and into a classroom at Lake Belton High School on Tuesday.

It's part of the INCubatoredu program the district offers to upperclassmen. It gives an authentic entrepreneurship experience, with the help of local business owners.

More than 40 students took the opportunity to deliver their business ideas to 22 different local business owners in a "Shark Tank" style pitch. The ideas included, apps, programs, and other services the students believe are needed in society.

If putting an idea out for expert evaluation is nerve-racking, Grand Island Senior High students Kowsslo Teya and Colton Marsh didn’t show it. Teya and Marsh were challenged to come up with a product idea that would solve a societal problem as part of their INCubatoredu class at GISH’s Academy of Buisness & Communication.