Westlake Girls High School celebrated the Business Start-Up Ceremony Expo on 11 October. We had nine teams participating in this challenge. Our dedicated students had weekly meetings and updates with their mentor teachers, who guided and supported them throughout this journey. I want to thank Mr Phil Cowley, who has managed all our group’s finances. Mr Cowley has given up his time to help me plan this challenge with Mrs Shankar, Mrs Green, Mrs Grobler, Mrs Abueideh, and Mrs Scholten.

My goal was to develop entrepreneurship among students, encouraging them to pursue their passions. The $50 Start-Up Business Challenge allowed students to develop skills like financial literacy, problem-solving, and leadership, serving as a stepping stone towards preparing for the world of work.

This initiative operated like actual venture capital funding. Students had to repay the $50 plus $1 interest. This experience is an excellent way of supporting students to learn and practice business skills in real life by developing an idea from concept to execution.

I am extremely grateful to our parents/caregivers for your support. Thank you for showing your belief in our young people. To our dedicated students, your hard work has elevated your self-confidence and inspired and positively impacted our local community. Your contributions inside and outside the classroom have been tremendous. On behalf of everyone involved, I want to offer special thanks to our current partners/sponsors for helping us achieve the Westlake Girls High School Business Start-Up Challenge. We are so grateful for your generous financial support and the trust you have vested in this challenge. With your assistance, the students achieved an outstanding result. This partnership serves as a source of inspiration for our students and beautifully represents the essence of entrepreneurship. -Aarti Singh