Three Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) students are competing to win $1 million to develop their business idea! They are finalists in the FTX Charity Hackathon, sponsored by the FTX Foundation Group, which challenged students from across South Florida to come up with an idea for improving mental or physical health.
From David Volz
As part of the competition, students worked in teams, with the top five teams qualifying for a Shark-Tank style finals competition at the FTX Arena in Miami on March 13, 2022. The finalists will pitch their ideas to celebrity judges, including businessman and Shark Tank television show investor Kevin O’Leary, Miami HEAT basketball star Udonis Haslem, comedian Whitney Cummings, and former major league baseball player David Ortiz.
The three BCPS students (pictured left to right) are Yewande Shitta-Bey from the College Academy at Broward College, Chad Jordan from Fort Lauderdale High School and Alexis Buggam from Atlantic Technical High School. The students, under the mentorship of the Bridge2Life college access network, developed a plan for a unique mobile app that connects students with peer mentors and counselors. The students are the only BCPS team selected for the final competition. For making it to the finals, each student receives a $15,000 scholarship, in addition to the chance to win $1 million in funding for the team’s project.
