Valley Stream students earn top honors in national contest
A group of junior high school students from Valley Stream received top honors in the National Elevator Pitch Competition.
The students from Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School won the recognition for their simulated business called A Cookie in Between, a company they operate from their classroom.
The Valley Stream students’ business was the only one from a junior high school that finished in the top 10 percent of the 172 entries received in the national contest.
A Cookie in Between is a virtual business dedicated to allergy-sensitive baked goods that are nut-, dairy- and egg-free. The National Elevator Pitch Competition challenges students to make a convincing and engaging elevator pitch to an angel investor in 60 seconds or less through a video submission.
The contest is run by Virtual Enterprises International, a national nonprofit that teaches students how to start and run a simulated business together as a class. The two-year VE-JV Career Academy enables 7th and 8th graders to develop technology and entrepreneurial skills by starting and managing business ventures.
Through the program, they develop business plans, participate in trade shows and conduct business transactions with virtual companies run by other students across the country. Over 200,000 students have gone through the VE program since its inception in 1996.
