Global Learning Charter Public School (GLCPS), a tuition-free public charter school that currently services 500 students in grades 5-12, recently held a Shark Tank Event with professors, business owners, economic development officials and GLCPS alumni volunteering as “the sharks.”
The GLCPS high school students were charged with inventing a device or service, making a prototype, creating a presentation, and “selling” their idea to a panel of “sharks.” Students were also required to create a product name, a logo, and a business card. The “sharks” were professors from UMass Dartmouth, local business owners, local economic development officials, and GLCPS alumni. The “sharks”, along with teachers, graded the students on problem identification, solutions, marketing opportunities, business models, pitch delivery and social impact.
The “sharks” included Darwin Ayala, and alum and project manager for Harpak-ULMA Packaging; Kassandra Ayala, and alum and a sequencing analyst scientist for AddGene; Michael Carvalho, and alum and member of the GLCPS board of trustees and Manager for LaFrance Hospitality; Joseph Costelo, a mortgage originator with Castle Mortgage Brokerage; Jennifer Dekkers, assistant professor of marketing and management in the Charlton College of Business at UMass Dartmouth; Claudia De Sousa, co-owner of Bushwood Tailors NYC and Bushwood Tailors Opportunity Shop in New Bedford; Jeanne Girard, adjunct faculty member in the business department at Bristol Community College; Kaylee Grodzi, co-founder of Boulder Union New England premier bouldering gym; Peter Karlson, founder of NeuEon which connects business and technology and teaches an entrepreneurship class at UMass Dartmouth; David Manke, professor of chemistry at UMass Dartmouth; Kianna Noriega, alum and manager at Holister; Derek Santos, executive director of New Bedford Economic Development Council; Samuel Shuman, alum and loss prevention manager in training with Journeys.
The Shark Tank Event was part of the Presentations of Learning held each year. Since its founding, GLCPS requires all students in grades 5-12 to participate in the three Presentations of Learning (POLs). Teachers guide students by either giving them a topic or helping them to choose a topic for each POL. Generally, these projects encompass all subject areas: ELA, Science, Math, Social Studies, Art and Technology. Students research the topic, create a way to exhibit it, such as a trifold or a powerpoint presentation, and present to an audience.
“We thank our “sharks” for taking time from their busy schedules to participate in our Presentations of Learning Program. Our business leaders were very impressed with the quality of our students’ work and their presentations. It was a successful learning experience for all and a great deal of fun,” said Stephen Furtado Jr., Executive Director of GLCPS. “Congratulations to our students on a job well done.”
About Global Learning Charter Public School
Open to New Bedford residents, Global Learning Charter Public School (GLCPS) is a tuition-free public charter school that currently serves 500 students in grades 5-12. Launched in 2002 as a Horace Mann charter school, GLCPS became a Commonwealth charter school in 2006. In order to generate a culture of personalization, the school setting and class sizes are deliberately small. Students, faculty and administration know each other well and teachers are able to tailor the curriculum to the needs and level of each student. GLCPS offers an exciting and challenging interdisciplinary curriculum that follows and builds upon the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Students learn to work collaboratively in teams, use technology meaningfully in their coursework, strengthen all elements of their communication skills, as well as develop the necessary skills to become engaged and ethical contributors to a global society. GLCPS capitalizes on the exceptional resources of the region (for example, marine sciences), and ties these resources to their curriculum and instruction. Additional information is available on the school’s website at www.glcps.org or call 508-991-4105.
