By Jill Sperling

Kamloops students prepare to enter the Junior Dragons Den

Apr 2, 2019 | 4:34 PM

KAMLOOPS — Students from across the region are learning about problem-solving, business concepts and entrepreneurship as they prepare for the Junior Dragons Den competition on Thursday. 

“The Junior Dragons Den is a collaboration between Junior Achievement of British Columbia and Community Futures Thompson Country to bring entrepreneurship competition to Kamloops,” said Kara Wright, program coordinator for Junior Achievement.

“So, Junior Achievement is in classrooms teaching kids about business concepts and then at the end it culminates with a really, really fun business pitch competition at TRU with all of the finalists that were selected from little mini in-school pitch competitions.” 

Pacific Way Elementary will be sending three teams to the final competition. 

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One of these teams has created a biodegradable chewing gum. 

“We all wanted to do something that was good for the environment and gum takes a long time to decompose, so it kind of just made sense to do it together and thought biodegradable gum,” said Ashley Loewen, one of three Grade 5 students to come up with the concept for Just Keep Chewing.

Loewen, Ashlyn Wassing, and Emily Hammond researched other biodegradable gums to come up with a recipe that would also be safe for bees. 

“Our product is made out of honeycomb, and flavouring, and colour, and powdered sugar,” said Hammond. “So, you have to melt the honeycomb down and we found a video on how to make it on YouTube.”

“I think they’re onto something,” said teacher Lisa Galloway. “I think incorporating the problem with the bees in our world basically and things that are happening with the bees and trying to contribute back to that I think is a huge part of their project and they’ve taken it to the next step, so I’m really proud of them.”

Another team has developed shirts that have their own built-in chalkboards. 

“So, Chalk Shirtz is a shirt with, like, a portable chalk board on it so you can… customize them on the go with coloured or white chalk,” said Grade 6 student Gavin Wycherley. 

Wycherley and Calum Korgaard developed the shirts using chalkboard paint and textile medium. 

A panel of judges will determine which teams win in the various categories, awarding them with $500 cash. 

“They can choose to use that to take their business to the next level, or they can enjoy a nice prize for all of their months of hard work and preparation for the competition,” Wright said.