Legal Affairs: Law firm awards three scholarships in entrepreneur plan competition

It's common for students to bemoan some of the subjects they study and say to themselves, "When am I going to use this and how is that going to get me paid?!" However, for students from Martin Luther King Jr., Senior High School, some students did get paid for learning. And for that, they were excited. For the third consecutive year three teams of students from Detroit's Martin Luther King Jr., High School took home cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000 at the final session of the 2010-2011 Improving Detroit Through Entrepreneurship Advancement (IDEA) program. IDEA is an innovative six-part program designed to enhance the entrepreneurial skills of high school students. The program was designed and facilitated by the Detroit office of the national law firm Foley & Lardner LLP in partnership with Martin Luther King Jr., Senior High School to help enhance success in today's changing economy. Judges from Foley & Lardner, WalMart and McDonalds viewed, listened to and questioned the top six teams and awarded scholarships to those with highest combined quality business plans, strategy, and presentation. The winners, in order of placement, were: 1. Skin Kandii, a tattoo shop/spa took first place -- Team members were: Aalyia Heath, Kazha Jones, Dominique Yancey, Kendra Randolph, Kiera Holman. Each will receive $1,000. 2. Sweet Fillings, a custom cupcake store with delivery took second -- Team members were: Alma Holmes, Nakeema Shaw, Dominique Thomas. Each member will receive $500. 3. WEBMART-- an inner-city, online or phone order, produce home-delivery store was the third place team -- Team members were: Kayla White and Meosha Gilmore. Each will receive $250. Other business plan finalists included a retail outlet featuring products made from recycled materials, a cutting-edge urban coffee/entertainment lounge, and a culinary training institution for urban youth. Program administrator, Marcus Sprow said this year's contestants were, "On top of their game today. The business plans were solid and presentations were highly detailed and filled with facts. We couldn't have been prouder of these students." "This program is excellent. Even those students who didn't finish in the top were winners simply for being in the game," said Judge Lindsay Huddleston of WalMart. "Some of these concepts have real material value to them and, hopefully, these young adults will continue on the path of entrepreneurship," said judge Jon M. Campbell, Sr., a Detroit-area McDonalds owner and operator and keynote speaker for this IDEA session. In between each class session, the corporate attorneys from Foley & Lardner would visit the school and provide hands-on mentorship to the students to review concepts, help teams refine their plans and help students any other challenges they may have been dealing with in school. Over the course of this year's program, students heard from area entrepreneurs and executives including from Fathead, The Pearson Group, WalMart, McDonalds, Doner Advertising, and others. The IDEA students also visited various colleges and universities where they spoke with college students and teachers about college life. For more information about the IDEA program or to access the in-depth coursework and resources, visit the website at www.foley.com/IDEA Published: Wed, Jun 1, 2011