On Friday, Jan.11, Spanish teacher Lynn Schork’s Spanish 5AP class held their own version of the TV show ‘Shark Tank.’
Ms. Schork created, what her students like to call, Schork Tank when the TV Show first aired and it has developed into a very realistic project. “I have really tweaked and changed it into a true shark tank,” Ms. Schork said.
Throughout the year the class rotates through different themes while preparing for the AP exam. “During the world of business theme, Shark Tank is the perfect thing to do with business,” Ms. Schork said. “Using real world challenges, we teach students what it really takes to create a market and sell a product.”
Students have to put in a lot of work for this project, including coming up with an original invention, a prototype, a budget, two ads and a proposal all in Spanish.
“Students come up with an original idea and then make sure it doesn’t have a patent,” Ms. Schork said. “Then they have to do a prototype of that item, and they have to come up with a business plan, and figure out how much manufacturing costs. They also have to find out where they are going to manufacture it in the world and have to check the child labor laws. They have to decide whether to be green or not, and to make money or focus on the green aspect.”
All the groups thought of interesting concepts. “My group came up with a bagel truck idea,” senior Lian Wolman said. “The bagel truck served two flavors of bagel in one. In the end our idea won; however, our presentation and advertisement did not.”
The ‘Schork’ Tank judges voted on best pitch, best print ad, best TV ad, and which product they thought would work best and earn the most money in the real world.
Three Spanish teachers took on the personas of the actual sharks for the presentation. Spanish teacher Ron Garcia acted as Mark Cuban. Academic Technology Coordinator and Spanish teacher Juan Martinez was Kevin O’Leary. Finally Ms. Schork played the role of Lori Greiner. “We treat the kids like the real shark tank and are hypercritical in our decisions and comments,” Ms. Schork said.
“This project was really fun but also very challenging,” Lian said. “We had to do everything in Spanish and think on our feet. In addition, the judges were very honest. They told you if they thought it was ugly or dangerous, and it all sounded worse because it was in Spanish, but we all just laughed it off. They were all very convincing judges,” she said.
This project is always a great time for the class.“I really love this project,” Ms. Schork said. “It has morphed into something that shows what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Students always seem to come up with something new. The kids did an awesome job this year. Their Spanish was really superior, truly incredible.”
