Students from St Joseph’s College show Entrepreneurial Spirit at County Final of the Tipperary Student Enterprise Program

On Thursday the 28th of March seven teams of young entrepreneurs left ST. Josephs College for LIT Thurles to partake in the county final of the Tipperary Student Enterprise Program.

Three months of hard work was about to pay off as all of the teams had a truly enjoyable day. 95 teams were present across three categories from 22 schools so it was a very busy competition for the day.

Our three first year teams competed in the Junior section.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh, ‘Premier Hooks’. L to R: Pa Brett, Cathal Frend, Brian Farrell and David Conway.

• The Premier Hooks team of Cathal Fred, Brian Farrell, David Conway and Pa Brett really impressed the judges with their attention to detail on their medal stand.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh, ‘The Motivators’. L to R: Taylor Molloy, Maria Hassett and Emily Ryan.

• The Motivators, which consisted of Taylor Molloy, Emily Ryan and Maria Hassett really brought a great message of wellbeing to proceeding with their Positive Jar.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh who came third in the overall Junior Section with their project ‘Shucky Duckys’. L to R: Aoife Fitzgerald, Cara Fogarty, Chloe Carroll, Kate Ryan and Phobe Sage.

• The Shucky Duckys wont be soon forgotten by anyone who came near their stand on Thursday. The five students, who were, Kate Ryan, Cara Forgarty, Pheobe Sage, Aoife Fitzgerald and Chloe Carroll were infectious with their enthusiasm and created a very unique product. SO much so that out of 31 teams in the Junior section, they came 3rd! a fantastic achievement.

Our three second year teams competed in the Intermediate section.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh, ‘Pop Surprise’. Team: Marie Moroney, Megan Doran, Breda Ryan, Anna Grace, Carlota Munzo Sanchez.

• Breda Ryan, Carolta Muniz, Maria Moroney, Anna Grace and Megan Doran made up Pop Surprise. This business really brought fun and laughter to the competition with their fantastically fun product.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh, ‘Woollen Wonders’. L to R: Ruth Bourke and Anna Stapleton.

• The Woollen Wonders team of Anna Stapleton and Ruth Bourke had a very traditional product but it was their social media presence that really caught the eye. Deemed to be the best out of the 28 teams in their section.

St. Joseph’s College Borrisoleigh,’ E.S. Reuse’. L to R: Emer O’Donnell and Sarah Ryan.

• ES Reuse really embraced the whole process. The two members of Sarah Ryan and Emer O’Donnell worked endlessly to develop and improve their product. They were rightly rewarded as out of the 95 teams present, the judges decided that they had focused the most on helping the environment and they won the Up Cycling award.

We had one entrant in the Senior section.

• Luxo Products really wowed the judges when they came to the school in January. The three members of Rachel O’Connell, Michaela Shanahan and Victoria Novak came up with a very marketable product that has loads of potential. Unfortunately on the day, two members had prior commitments so they were unable to attend but Michaela held the forth brilliantly, assisted by her classmate Simon Humphries for the day.

Overall the students really enjoyed the day and their Business teacher Mr. McLoughney complemented them on their work ethic, creativity and their behavior on the day. All of us in St. Josephs College are hoping for more success like this in the coming years.