Newberg schools — The '8th Period' after-school class on business plans concludes with its own episode of 'Shark Tank'

For several weeks this semester, a group of 27 middle school students have been binge watching episodes of the business reality show “Shark Tank.”

As the latest cohort in the Newberg School District’s “8th Period” program, a series of six-week after-school career and technical education (CTE) classes, the students were learning how to put together a business plan, so it made sense.

They were not only studying the failures and successes of real-world business presentations, but in a way, they were also preparing to make their own appearance on the popular television program.

That’s because teacher Mike Alpert staged his own mock “Shark Tank” event Dec. 11 at Mountain View Middle School, at which five groups of students got the chance to pitch their own ideas for a new business.

“I was blown away by the creativity of the kids and some of the ideas they came up with,” said local businessman Jamie Hartnell, who served as one of three sharks in the scenario. “I think it’s always good to see kids get up in a public setting like that and present their ideas. I thought it was a great way to finish a course like that.”

Mountain View teacher Mike Alpert, who worked in accounting and finance prior to becoming a teacher, taught the class hoping to both give students some real-world skills and expose them to potential courses of study at Newberg High School and beyond.

Starting with the concept of identifying a problem and creating a business around the solution, the students performed their own basic market analysis, cost analysis, sales projections and value propositions to include in the business plans and presentations.

“It’s not as hard as it looks,” sixth grade student Analiese Dawson said. “Mr. Alpert makes it super easy. It got easier and easier as it went, once you had more information.”

Dawson, who is homeschooled but participates in Newberg’s Chehalem Online Learning Academy (COLA), said it was a bit scary to present to the panel of judges, which also included MVMS health teacher Judy Brown and Albina Bank vice president Stephen Green, but very much worth it.

Emily Daniel, an eighth-grade student at Chehalem Valley, said she felt the same way, but was also surprised at what her group produced in just 11 two-hour sessions over six weeks.

“I was impressed at how fast it came together,” Daniel said. “I didn’t think it could come together that fast with all those numbers.”

Brown, who has owned three businesses and formerly taught business and marketing at Newberg High School, checked in on the class a few weeks before the presentations and said she was encouraged that the young students could take their ideas so far.

“I think those projects are really important for those kids just to get a baseline,” Brown said. “Then being able to present your project as the next level makes a huge difference because there is some heightened responsibility.”

All three judges expressed admiration for the work put in by the students and gave positive reviews of the presentations and product ideas, which included a triangular indoor hammock, a specialized butter tray, an automatic nightlight, a windshield-projected GPS system and a restaurant.

“They loved doing the presentation and I encouraged the kids I have in class to, if they really believed in their product, keep going with it because there are ways, if you really like it, that you can fund it,” Brown said. “I thought the butter dish, as a mom and a consumer of butter, was a great idea.”

Alpert, who said he may carry over one of the ideas to use as a template for the 8th Period class on crowd funding he will teach in April, also took the class to meet with the owners of Newberg Bakery, who shared their experience of starting up a business.

Alpert announced at a pizza party Dec. 16 that the group pitching the Red House Grill restaurant “won” the exercise, but all told, he was impressed with how much all the students picked up in such a short amount of time.

“They were focused and eager and I’m just really proud of them,” Alpert said. “They just did a fantastic job. I have done a lot of high school and college level programs and even heard presentations in business school where I think some of the things weren’t as thought out as this.”

For more information or to sign up for a future 8th Period class, visit newberg. k12.or.us/district/8th-period-after-school-camp.

Written By: Seth Gordon