Five groups of Grade 11 pupils from Beacon Hill High School in Beacon Valley were voted into the final round of the Kickstarz programme where these pupils were taught how to budget and handle their money.
On Friday May 18, the five teams – Huncho Air, Hood Bosses, Aironic, Motorsport and Royalty – had to stand in front of the school and the judges to pitch their business plan for a new sneaker.
They were required to design the product, as well as have a budget for it, explain their understanding of entrepreneurship and show the crowd how their idea could work. The winners of the Metro Kickstarz 2018 competition were the members of team Aironic, who walked away with their very own sneaker that they created, and a pair will be produced by Kickstarz for each member.
The co-ordinator of the programme, Elsie Govender of Metropolitan’s corporate social investment division, said: “This programme was designed for high school pupils to teach them about money and how to work with it, especially when they leave home.
“This course also teaches them money management and household expenditure. This encourages them to share it with their parents as well.”
Beacon Hill was one of four schools in the province chosen by Kickstarz to be part of the programme. They will be taking the competition to KwaZulu-Natal next.
Aironic group member Banele Mathole, 17, from Khayelitsha, said: “In the programme they taught us the importance of saving money. Anything can happen in our lives so we need to be ready to work with money when all else fails.”
Another Aironic group member, Chiara Marcus, 16, from Beacon Valley said: “I enjoyed the programme (and) learnt how to save money, how to draw up a budget at home and speak to my parents when they give me my allowance. I will definitely continue with this new way of working with money.”
Matthew Jansen, 16, from Beacon Valley, also a member of Aironic added: “I am so excited that our group won and that we’re getting our own shoe made, designed by us. This programme taught me how to save, how entrepreneurship works. It will help me in the future one day when I am older with a family and a job, helping me save money wisely.”
Beacon Hill principal Gregory Kannemeyer said he was very proud of the pupils. “I am so proud of the students who used what they were taught in this short course. Kickstarz really made a difference in their lives as this will be a lifelong lesson.”