Entreprenurial success for Duleek schoolgirls

Sixth class students in Duleek Girls N.S were recently announced as overall winners of The Junior Entrepreneur Programme 2020 for their project ‘Where are you Mammy?’, a fictional book based on a koala losing its mother in an Australian bushfire.

This was the second year in a row that the class won an award for their project in the competition.

Last year the talented bunch won ‘The Creative Pioneer Award’ having successfully designed and launched bracelets that store important medical information using QR codes.

The students came up with the thought-provoking idea for the book last June as a way to highlight the impact of climate change around the world but they could never have predicted how their story would go on to play out for real when bushfires began to devastate parts of Australia earlier this year.

Teacher Ellen Costigan she is ‘super proud’ of the girls who came up with the entire concept themselves.

“It was a complete surprise; we didn’t expect to win it. It’s an amazing achievement.

“The fact that the girls got to start a business and everything that involves from the planning and the research to the marketing to the product development to the sales at the end.

“It was a great learning experience and for them the journey of creating the book was just as rewarding as winning the prize.

“I start out with children who don’t like maths and by the end of the programme they see the relevance of the subject from a real life perspective.”

The climate savvy 6th class had to pitch their ideas in a 'junior Dragon's Den' even enlisting the help of a 'real' dragon according to Ms. Costigan.

"It was all completely student-led from the very start. They came up with ideas and then they researched them to see if the product existed already, if it was viable and would they potentially make a profit.

"We were lucky enough to get Gavin Duffy in so we feel we had the real deal along with Dr Eric Clinton who lectures in Entrepreneurship in DCU.

“They pitched to the dragons who asked them questions to which they justified why they thought this particular idea would be a good business for the class."

The girls are donating a percentage of the profits to charity and also hope to support some good causes closer to home following the difficulties caused by Covid 19.

Some books are still available online at www.whereareyoumammy.ie