Holyoke School District

On March 30, twenty junior high students and teacher Lori Nelsonattended the Ogallala Commons Entrepreneurship Fair at the Phillips County Event Center.  While there, students competed against other junior high and high school students from Wiggins, Haxtun, Fleming, Burlington, and Yuma in the area of entrepreneurship.\r\n

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When the doors opened at 8:30, the students started setting up display boards and products showcasing their hard work.  Some of the things their boards displayed included were their resumes, mock-ups of their product, prototypes, business cards, purchase orders, brochures, flyers, and more.  They hoped to win some of the $3,000+ being given away today.\r\n

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Students were interviewed by business people throughout the state of Colorado.  They were asked questions such as how they determined their cost of goods, markup and sales price.  The students explained how their businesses got started including how they did their research to be sure their products would be profitable, and they also answered questions from their business plans that they created. \r\n

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All students listened to a panel of business owners/representatives and were able to ask questions.  Those individuals included Trisha Herman with Holyoke Fitness, Julia Biesemeier with Haxtun Health, Allison Horton with Turquoise Chandelier, and Michael Hassell with Melissa Memorial Hospital.  After the panel presentation, the finalists were announced.  Then those students had one final interview with a panel of judges while other students went to business workshops.\r\n

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It was announced that ALL businesses would receive $50 for their work.  In addition, Holyoke Junior High had three groups that walked away with additional monies.  Those students included Alooks owners Kinley Sporhase and Ana Lerma, $100; Dragon Merch, owners Sujey Bustillos, Rut Espinoza, and Claire Hubbard, $100; and YSA Casings, owners Sadee Mosenteen, Aubrey Biebers, and Yuri Yanez, $300.\r\n

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Lunch was provided and each student received a t-shirt.  Holyoke’s Chamber of Commerce director, Jessica Ayala, helped with the day, while Mikey Brown, Phillips County Economic director, worked with Ogallala Commons to put everything together.  Event sponsors included Daniels Fund, Haxtun Community Federal Credit Union, Premier Farm Credit, First Pioneer, Holyoke Community Federal Credit Union, Points West Community Bank, Startup Colorado, chfa, Haxtun Health and the Bank of Colorado.\r\n

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Other Holyoke students participating that received $50 included Kittychains owner, Sarah Adams; NorthStar owners, Riley Powell, Tomas Estrada and Dathyn Dirks; CJ Apparel owners, Jacob Quintana, Cesar Favela and Daymien Hunter; Super Hoodies owner, Alexx Mateo Zazo; and Déjà vu owners, Dayami Trejo, Vanessa Marroquin and Jackie Santiesteban.\r\n