St. Jude Catholic School Wins Enderun Colleges’ Elevator Pitch Competition

This year’s next Bright Idea Year 3 grand winner is St. Jude Catholic School. From left: Enderun Colleges’ Vice President for Admissions and External Relations Tricia Tensuan, SJCS Facilitator Camilo Gelido, Jr., SJCS students Francis Choa, Jr., Adrian Sy, Nicole Chiang, Diane Ong, Christine Tan, Enderun Colleges’ Director for Admissions and Extension Daniel Perez

Enderun Colleges awarded St. Jude Catholic School as the grand winner of The Next Bright Idea High School Elevator Pitch Challenge held last January 28, 2014 at The Tent at Enderun.

Out of the 15 teams that qualified for the finals, St. Jude’s project called Ambience, a lighting product that harvests RF energy from free energy and converts it to power LED bulbs, took home the grand prize of PhP 50,000. Second place went to Reedley International School for their concept, Sky Sentry, an air purifier that minimizes major air pollutants using robotics and computer programming. Third place went to International Christian Academy’s Jupiter, an inflatable turbine that provides electricity and Internet. Two special awards were also given out: The Technology Award was given to Assumption Antipolo for their project Piezoelectricity, energy plates that harvest mechanical energy from the vibrations produced by walking, travelling vehicles, and other similar sources. The Social Responsibility Award was given to Victory Christian International School for their project, The Companion, a solar-powered waste bin that turns biodegradable waste into soil and forges non-biodegradable waste into pots.

“This competition helped us know how the real business industry works by giving us a firsthand experience on pitching to a group of possible investors. It was nerve-wracking but in the end, the Next Bright Idea also boosted our confidence and improved our public speaking skills,” SJCS team member Nicole Chiang said.

Eleven schools qualified for the finals namely: Grace Christian College, Diliman Preparatory School, Don Bosco Mandaluyong, St. Jude Catholic School, Reedley International School, Jubilee Christian Academy, De La Salle Integrated School, Victory Christian International School, Assumption Antipolo, Montessori de Manila, and International Christian Academy. Their pitches were judged by Larry Gamboa, author of Think Rich, Pinoy!; Patch Dulay, founder of The Spark Project; and Bea Gonzales, Enderun Colleges student and former Next Bright Idea runner up.

“It’s my first time to hear high school students pitch and I am impressed that their ideas are both inspiring and innovative. All finalists were able to think out-of-the-box and have the desire to provide innovative solutions to real-world problems,” judge Patch Dulay, founder of The Spark Project, said.

In photo: The members of St. Jude Catholic School show their prototype to the judges during the Next Bright Idea Year 3 competition.

The three judges—(from left) Larry Gamboa, author of Think Rich, Pinoy!; Bea Gonzales, an Enderun Business Administration student and first runner-up of the Next Bright Idea Year 2; Patch Dulay, founder of The Spark Project, awards the winners with Enderun Colleges President Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez (right)

Now on its third year, the Next Bright Idea is a competition started by Enderun Colleges to instill the entrepreneurial spirit among the youth. Prior to the finals, 44 teams from various high schools attended an entrepreneurship master class in order to help them conceptualize their business idea and deliver a pitch. The teams then submitted a 1000-word summary of their business concept. From the 44 teams, the top 15 entries were selected to present a three-minute pitch to a panel of judges, who assessed their business ideas based on innovation, feasibility, and financial attractiveness.