DUBLIN – Funded by the State of Ohio through the Department of Higher Education and operated as a program of The Ohio Academy of Science, Believe in Ohio is a STEM and entrepreneurship program that teaches students how to commercialize products and services and create business plans that are driven by innovation.
Recently, students from 17 high schools throughout Ohio competed in the second of two Qualifying Competitions for the opportunity to advance to the 2022 Believe in Ohio State Competition. Student projects are developed and then evaluated either as a STEM Commercialization Plan or a STEM Business Plan. The Believe in Ohio State Competition will take place at the beginning of July. Students at the state competition will compete for up to $375,000 in total scholarship awards.
Local students qualifying for the state competition are Anna High School students Madison Victoria Jeffries, a senior, individual category with her project The Food Oasis; and Carly Lynn Koverman, a senior, individual catgory with her project SleepRate App.
“STEM is the driver for innovation and when combined with entrepreneurship, it becomes a powerful force that drivesthe creation for new products and services, and builds new industries”, said Michael E. Woytek, executive director for The Ohio Academy of Science. Woytek went on to add, “these students are the future professionals needed to propel Ohio’s innovation economy.”
Each of the students advancing from the Qualifying Competition will receive a $1,000 scholarship to attend any Ohio college, university, or technical college and the opportunity to compete for a $5,000 or $10,000 scholarship (per plan) at the State Competition.
Believe in Ohio is a free, comprehensive, curriculum-based, STEM and entrepreneurship program for Ohio high school students. The program is designed to create a “Culture of Innovation” and to prepare students to meet the demands of a rapidly changing labor market and become contributors to Ohio’s innovation economy.
Believe in Ohio is a program of The Ohio Academy of Science and was collaboratively developed with Entrepreneurial Engagement Ohio. For more information about Believe in Ohio, visit www.believeinohio.org.
