SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - Thursday morning, the Sioux City Career Academy marketing and business students got to experience their very own version of “Shark Tank.”
Alternatively titled “Spark Tank,” seventh and eighth-grade students in the Business and Marketing course were given the opportunity to pitch their very own unique marketing ideas to local business leaders.
Each student in the course from all three Sioux City Community School District schools presented their ideas and a panel of business partners provided their feedback and suggestions.
“Today, we have our seventh and eighth graders presenting their final projects for all of the work they’ve done this semester,” said Katie Andersen, the business and marketing teacher at East Middle School. “Our seventh graders created an advertising campaign for a business and our eighth graders created a presentation about a product they invented.”
“Spark Tank” was designed to provide students with real-world experiences needed to succeed. Teachers say the skills the students gain from doing presentations like these are exactly what their future employers are looking for.
“The number one thing that the middle school is asked to do is to increase their ability to speak and take criticism. And this is something that we do all semester to give that criticism and feedback and teach the kids to react to that appropriately,” said Andersen.
The students in the business and marketing course were grateful for the opportunity to get creative with their pitches and saw the event as a great way to hone in on their public speaking skills.
View the full coverage by Annamarie Gustavson on KTIV's website.