Recently, I had the opportunity to help judge a competition at Rock Island High School somewhat similar to the popular “Shark Tank” program on television.

In the program, sponsored by the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation, eight teams of Rocky students presented their ideas for a product that could have broad appeal to their fellow students and to the public at large. In this round of the INCubator.edu competition, the seven other judges included the director and business advisor of Western Illinois University, representatives of area banks, marketing and product design firms; as well as a couple of past award winners from the program.

Each team was tasked over two semesters with developing a business overview, marketing strategy, and plan for financing their idea. Each team member then participated in the presentation – though some more eagerly and enthusiastically than others, all were engaged. The panel of judges then rated the presentations, with the fop five teams going on to the final round.

Ideas ranged from creating an automatic car turn signal linked to Google maps; to consulting services for optimizing wardrobes; to a service for monitoring social media. One of the highest rated products in our competition was a device designed to reduce water waste and cut utility bills. With water shortages becoming increasingly challenging in many parts of the country, such a product could have obvious economic and environmental benefits.

Many of the presentations reflected such a social concern. For example, a couple proposed a portion of any profits would go to address homelessness or mental health.

The top five finalists in our round proceeded to a final round the following week at which a $5,000 cash award was given to the winning team. The award could then be applied by the team either to develop their product or to further their own educational endeavors.

This innovative program has been in place at Rock Island High School since the 2015-2016 school year. It’s the only such program in the Quad-Cities and is part of a national network of schools participating in the INCubator.edu program.

Teams from Rocky participating in the program have advanced to national competition. In 2017, the “LEAD – Leading Every Day and Driving to Success” team advanced to be one of five teams nationally to participate in the nationwide INCubator pitch competition. There they took first place. So effective was their presentation that some in the audience were brought to tears with the stories and commitment expressed by team members.

Then, in 2021 and again in 2023, the Grit Grant Award sponsored by Chicago-based McKenzie Foundation were awarded to Rocky students, making Rock Island High School the only school nationwide to have two such recipients. This award recognizes optimism, confidence, creativity, resilience, focus on meaningful goals, as well as excellence in character, thinking, acting and feeling that benefits both oneself and others.

Perhaps what is most impressive about this initiative at Rocky, is that it not only focuses on the creativity and thoughtful planning involved in working as a team to come up with useful items for sale; but in coming up with products that can be applied to addressing social concerns. Whether improving the environment by reducing water waste, or enhancing driver safety, or directing a portion of profits to benefit those in need; students in the program demonstrate a social conscience, as well as economic initiative we could all learn from.

It is great to see such programs as this in our public schools. They richly deserve our support and encouragement, not merely to prepare our students for useful careers, but to address tomorrow’s challenges in a socially responsible way.