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| SATURDAY JANUARY 28 | SUNDAY JANUARY 29 2017

THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

NEWS

the same course for the third straight year. It was developed by INCubatoredu, an educational services company. The six GBS student-developed businesses include enterprises that work with vintage clothing, event planning, golf instruction, road rallies, clothing art and sports equipment rental,

according to Macfadden. One Stop Sports, the sports equipment rental business, is ready to operate once the lacrosse season starts in March, according to Drew Gonzalez, one of the three students bringing the business to life. “We rent out sports equipment so parents can see if their children

have an interest in a sport,” said Gonzalez, a Glenbrook South junior. “It can cost a lot of money to buy the equipment and the kid may not stick with the sport.” Gonzalez, along with Dylan Garvey, a junior, and Sean Morrison, a senior, said they chose to focus on lacrosse because one of the coaches at the school put

them in touch with Glenview Park District personnel who had used equipment they were able to rent. Lacrosse is a spring sport that fits into the course timing, said Morrison. They will offer their rental services to participants in the park district’s middle school youth lacrosse program. Morrison

said equipment purchase can cost between $500 and $600. Another group of five students—Melanie Macwan, John Hartigan, Andrew Richards, Michael Wyciszkiewicz and Chad Tormoen—have created Shibes. They are engaged in a two-prong approach as they get ready to sell T-shirts with a design created by an artist. They find the artists as well as a manufacturer. “It’s cool to be doing this and it’s our very own business,” said Macwan. Macwan said their idea gives young people the chance to get a unique piece of clothing and artists a venue for their creativity. Hartigan said they are reaching out to art schools and classes to find talent. “We are giving them a chance to display their art,” said Hartigan. After they get their first run of shirts, they said they plan to set up a table at school to sell them. Macfadden said the other student-run businesses are Vintage Threads, which curates vintage clothing for men; Swing N’Learn, developing a platform to connect novice golfers with experienced coaches; Northside Planners, creating weekend activities for youngsters, and Chicago Engine Club, which plans, hosts and runs car meetups and road rallies for “gearheads” of all ages.

and error to determine a viable product or service to market, according to Mindy Ingersoll, who teaches the course. “Everyone adds value to the class and they are showing a real passion for what they’re doing,” said Ingersoll. “All the things they are doing are in real world scenarios. They are developing a passion for their business.” Students like Kyle Kadish, a senior, share Ingersoll’s enthusiasm. He is working with four other students to create Colledge, a website to ease the college search for students while helping schools find students who will be a fit at the university. “This is an amazing experience,” said Kadish. “It’s an opportunity to learn with each other and develop a business.” Ingersoll is not the only person teaching the students. She said a strong emphasis is put on teaching each other. “They pull out each other’s strengths and help others through their weaknesses,” said Ingersoll. “This is an invaluable skill they will be using the rest of their lives.

They are learning the methodology.” They also have coaches who come in as guest speakers to offer perspective on areas of expertise like finance or marketing. Each individual group of entrepreneurs has a mentor from the business community who volunteers his or her time to assist the students on a regular basis either in person, on the phone or with a video conference. Working with Kadish on Colledge are his brother, Miles Kadish, Ryan Cotler, Jacob Ginzburg and Corey Wessel. They are working out the details of their website. Kyle Kadish said students who go to the website will complete a questionnaire. When they complete it, they will get a list of colleges appropriate for them based on criteria like size of institution, geography and a variety of other factors. “It saves the school money,” said Cotler. “They won’t be sending letters to students who have no interest going there.” Corporate Catalyst, Colledge

and the other businesses in the class are applying the scientific method to business, according to Ingersoll.

“They make assumptions, test their assumptions and do it again so they can add value to their idea,” said Ingersoll. “It is

the scientific method to a degree but there is still an art to it because they have to sell their idea.”

GBS Continued from PG 1 classes.” Teamwork is also important because Macfadden said a large part of the grade will be joint effort. Macfadden is not the only one doing the teaching. There are coaches from area businesses who talk to the students about areas of specialization like finance or marketing. Each team also has a mentor from the local business community who acts as an advisor, according to Dawn Hall, the instructional supervisor who heads the business department. She said there is regular contact with the mentor in person, on the phone or through video conferencing. “This is an authentic experience,” said Hall. “When they walk through the door (of the classroom) they feel they are going to work.” At the end of the year there will be a pitch night where the student teams will present their ideas to a panel of potential investors. Hall said hopefully one of the teams will get funding to develop its business in an advanced class next year. “If the panel believes in them they can move forward,” said Hall. “They have to show they’re viable. Just the experience of presenting it is invaluable.” Two teams were funded at Lake Forest High School last year, according to a DailyNorthShore.com. That school is teaching GBN Continued from PG 1 Dahlke, Bianca Osinski and Miles Lazar—did not have specific numbers, they sense with mammoth corporations like All State Insurance Company and UL (Underwriters Laboratories) in town, there is a potential market. A village of 33,170 as of the 2010 census, Northbrook has over 3,000 businesses within its corporate limits with more than 45,000 people working there. This more than doubles the population during the day, according to the village website. Corporate Catalyst is one of five businesses created and being nurtured in the Glenbrook North business incubator class. The students hope to impress a panel of judges enough at the end of the year that they will get funding to develop their ventures in an advanced class next year. Rather than craft a 30-page business plan, the students work in teams to collaborate with each other, drawing on the strengths of each of them with some trial

From left, Chad Tormoen and John Hartigan, both sophomores, work on their business incubator team’s final exam presentation for a custom-designed T-shirt business, at Glenbrook South High School. PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE HANDWERKER