Author: Jason Lin
Date: December 19, 2021
On December 3, EVHS history was made. A total of ten clubs: American Medical Students Association, HOSA, Physics, Computing, Science Olympiad, Neuroscience, SNHS, Business Professionals of America, and FBLA, led by Chemistry Bioengineering Club organized the largest club operation of 2021.
After months of planning and with 10 clubs working in unison, EVHS Shark Tank comes to fruition:: EVHS Yearbook
Never before have so many clubs, independently, unified together for the school and community.
“I was in shock at how many clubs were collaborating on it…. That to me has never been done in EVHS history.” said Sanjana Sathishkumar, president of BPA, “ I Thought it would be interesting. As it was the first year that anything like Shark Tank has been done on campus.”
The event, modeled after and inspired by the show Shark Tank, focused on illuminating the importance of business in STEM. A total of 85 students split into four topic areas of their choosing: covid testing, AI in neuroscience, nuclear waste management, and genetically modified organisms.
GMO Group prepping out their designed product in preparation for the teacher shark judges:: EVHS Yearbook
Participants were split into groups of 4 and given a topic-specific real-world issue to address as a team. Over the course of 1 hour, teams brainstormed and compiled information on a possible product they could pitch to the “Sharks” (teachers) that would solve the prompt.
“One thing our campus especially has is that we have so many students who are interested in STEM. So there are so many different students who want to take the initiative to start a club and I think that is great….” said Avishi Singh, president of CBE and head of organizer of EVHS Shark tank. “So Shark Tank was a sort of way for them all to come together and create a project for the whole student community…There is also business that comes into play…it is really to explore those aspects.”
Yet planning such an event wasn’t an easy endeavor. The initial idea for the STEM Shark Tank was much different from the finished product.
“Originally we thought it would be a super centralized event…we wanted something of a big event because that is what our club is all about.” said Nishika Ivaturi, CBE co-vice president, “we were originally planning on everyone doing it in the theater, but the way that shark tank is modeled... So we weren’t going to have every single team discuss the same thing in the thing same room because it gets repetitive and we don’t want to hear the same idea in variation 20 times over: especially if we are giving them one prompt….We want it to be all done in one day since we didn’t want it to be like homework rather a fun event you should get something out of. So we felt that exposing them to 4 topics was the best idea since decentralization solved the problem of everyone being in one place for the whole time.”
The shift from one topic to 4 topics was welcomed by the participants of the STEM Shark Tank. Many of them commented on being excited about having the freedom of choice. Yet, still having fun due to the challenge they presented.
“I think the 4 topics were all interesting and apply to real-life very easily.” said Rick, '' Sometimes the topic’s solution would be hard to have due to lack of experience about the topic.”
The solutions presented by some groups were quite groundbreaking. For example, the GMO topic area had come up with a particular method in dealing with Chad’s hunger crisis:
Group of STEM Shark Tank participants presenting their winning product:: Nishika Ivasturi
“One group had the idea of making a superfood. They wanted to GMO something to solve the hunger crisis in Chad which has a desert, very arid climate…They combined yams and two other vegetables and created this superfood going very in depth into how to genetically splice each vegetable with each other and what benefit each vegetable would give to this superfood.” said Sanjana, “They also talked about how to incorporate that into cultural dishes in Chad which a lot of other groups didn’t talk about…This group talked about how it is already common to use similar foods to this, root vegetables in Chad Cuisine, so it would be easy to integrate it.”
After the terrific effort presented in each group, teacher judges selected one team per topic on the standards of understandability, feasibility, originality, business acumen, and craftsmanship. The teams who scored the highest in each of these categories won. Winning teams were awarded medals for each individual, cementing their place in EVHS history.
The winning team of the Covid-19 Testing Category stands proud, awarded with medals.
Yet despite the competitive nature of the event, the STEM Shark Tank event turned out incredibly social. Teams and teachers commented and talked about each other’s solutions, providing feedback, new ideas, and socializing. Everyone helped everyone learn and stay engaged. As Nishika states: the STEM Shark Tank event wasn’t just a test of STEM knowledge, but also an experience to grow one's acumen in interest and sociability.
“The Shark Tank was a really good way to do that because it's a time to be with your friends and you get to pick a prompt you like rather than listen to a talk about a biology topic we like… “ said Nishika”, The ,opportunity to explore is something that means alot to me personally…and I feel like we were able to do that”
When asked if they would participate again in a STEM Shark Tank next year, many students gave a positive response.
“Yes, it really informed the participants of the topic they chose through research. “ said Rick Xie.
“I definitely want to see Shark Tank come next year. I think it would be so fun to have it again and now that people on campus are familiar with what Shark Tank is. I hope there will be more people and more people just to come and join.” said Sanjana.
Leading officers and club officials also agree with this sentiment, including many teachers who participated as judges (Sharks).
“Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Ridencula was talking to me and they told me they want to recreate it in their room. It seemed like people were having fun and they were getting something out of it.” said Nishika, “I was really happy about that because as a stem club our main goal is to have members from our meeting know something they didn’t know before or gaining a skill they didn’t have before.”
Of course, such a new and expansive event did face its challenges. Yet, as Avishi points out, many of them were averted due to the great efforts of all the club officers involved. Everyone remained dedicated both in the planning and execution of the event. Nishika commented on how “I did not see a single officer who didn’t talk to anyone the entire time. I was really happy about that.”
“The biggest challenge was that this was the first-ever Shark Tank we held on campus. Also, there were 10 clubs. It was difficult to communicate and get 10 clubs on board, but I think they did an amazing job.” said Avishi, “They were all responsive, they all got their work done, they were proactive and everything that had to be done was done. I think it was possible, not just because of BME, but also because of everyone there.
Picture of the officers and advisors who made EVHS Shark Tank event.
Moving forward, CBE hopes to make the STEM Shark Tank a regular occurrence on the EVHS campus. The officers plan on incorporating more teachers and students into the event with a greater variety of topics and prizes. In the future, STEM Shark Tank may find itself a community occurrence, celebrated throughout campus and beyond. Toward the goal of STEM and business collaboration and education, none is a more moral cause.
“I hope we can make this an event people look forward to. Like in stem night, it is something people look forward to in the year and is not just for people on our campus. But also for our community and outside our school.” said Avishi, “I hope that Shark Tank can become something that people interested in STEM or Business will look forward to in the school year…I can’t wait to see what topics they have next year!”
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