Contact: Tom Still or Joy Sawatzki at 608-442-7557
Or visit: http://www.wisconsinyes.com
MADISON – With the school year beginning in earnest across Wisconsin, it’s not too early for students, teachers, parents and administrators to plan to enter the 2016 version of Wisconsin Youth Entrepreneurs in Science.
Wisconsin YES! is a statewide youth business plan contest modeled after the successful Governor’s Business Plan Contest. It will open for online entries from Wisconsin middle- and high-school students in late September, with an initial deadline of 5 p.m. April 4, 2016.
Public, private and home-schooled students across Wisconsin are eligible to turn their science- and tech-related ideas into business plans and compete for cash and prizes. The contest begins with a 250-word summary submitted through http://www.WisconsinYES.com. Entries that advance to Phase 2 of the competition will expand their idea into a 1,000-word executive summary. Throughout the process, students get feedback from professionals across Wisconsin who will serve as judges.
As a tool for educators, Wisconsin YES! fosters interest in science and tech education, and encourages students to be independent, creative thinkers capable of problem solving.
“The contest entry deadline is months away, but many interested teachers may make lesson plans now in order to build YES! into their curricula,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
Students are able to work in teams or as individuals and will be judged based upon their grade level, with the oldest team member determining the team category. Students or teams may enter multiple ideas.
Place finishers in each category – 9th grade and under, 10th grade, 11th grade and 12th grade – are eligible for cash and prizes. The grand prize winner will present his or her winning idea at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, June 8 in Madison. Past winners have hailed from Weston, Brookfield, New Glarus and La Crosse.
Past supporters of the contest have been: IBM, WEA Trust, Wisconsin Technical College System, Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Public Instruction, Make a Difference Wisconsin, Project Lead the Way Wisconsin, STEM Forward, Wisconsin Association of School Boards and Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers.
The Wisconsin Technology Council is the independent, non-profit and non-partisan science and technology adviser to the Governor and the Legislature. It serves as a catalyst for tech-based economic development in Wisconsin through programs such as the Wisconsin Angel Network, the Governor’s Business Plan Contest and the Wisconsin Innovation Network.
