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Nov. 19, 2014 STETTLER, ALBERTA
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Taming the Dragons: Grade 2 Stettler student a hit on CBC-TV show Joel van der Veen INDEPENDENT REPORTER It took Mya Prehn mere minutes to win the hearts of the five investors on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. The seven-year-old Grade 2 student from Stettler — an entrepreneur in her spare time —became the youngest guest in the show’s history with her appearance, taped in March and aired on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Prehn appeared on the show during an allstudent special to seek the Dragons’ investment in Lunch Apeel, a company she created with the help of her mother, Erin. Lunch Apeel sells a kit designed to encourage healthy eating for kids. The set includes stickers that parents can use to mark the nutritional value of the items in their kids’ lunches, with three rankings: one, two or three apples. There’s also a chart parents can use to track their kids’ dietary habits, with rewards — like a new book or a lunch date — given at different levels of achievement. Mya and her father, Brian, are fans of Dragons’ Den and made the trip to Calgary together when auditions were held there. They needed an idea to pitch, said her mother, Erin. Mya’s first pitch — a robot that applied makeup — was creative, but perhaps too complex. “Obviously, none of us knew how to make that,” said Erin. So they went back to the drawing board. Mya told the Dragons that the product was inspired by her own experience, as she would often eat the treats packed in her lunch and leave the healthier items untouched. “I didn’t eat all my healthy stuff,” she explained to the Independent later. “My mom decided that we should make it a game.” They pitched this idea in Calgary in February, not expecting any response, and were “incredibly surprised” to receive a phone call inviting them to Toronto for a taping of the show. continued on page 4
Contributed photo
Mya Prehn is seen pitching her business plan for Lunch Apeel with Jim Treliving of Dragons’ Den during her appearance on the CBC program, which aired Wednesday, Nov. 12. Inset: Mya Prehn was in Toronto last March for the taping of the program.
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