Budding entrepreneurs organize fundraiser for eAcademy itself

By DAVID L. DYE

Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE — Normally, students at the eAcademy focus on becoming entrepreneurs and developing business ideas into sustainable projects.

But the eAcademy’s students’ latest task calls on them to organize a fundraiser that will help support the eAcademy itself, said Katy Kelly Parr, program director at the eAcademy.

The fundraiser will be held from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 10, at The Corinthian Banquet Hall and Event Center, 47 Vine Avenue, Sharon, and will have the theme “Get Your Head Out of the Clouds,” in this case referring to cloud computing.

Proceeds from the event will go toward funding eAcademy operations. The eAcademy receives funding from a variety of sources, including grants, foundations and tuition paid by school districts, so this fundraiser will help fill any gaps in funding, Hermitage Assistant City Manager Gary Gulla said.

Assisting Parr on the fundraising committee include home-schooled senior Anna Kavulla; Sharon seniors Ella Labbiento and Ella Connelly; Union senior Joe DeRaleau; and Hickory senior Libby Kent, who help with tasks such as meeting with potential sponsors and designing the lighted centerpieces that will be displayed at the fundraiser.

“Usually when we’re working on a project, I give them a problem and tell them, ‘Okay, now figure out a solution,’ so for the fundraiser, they’ve really taken it and run with it,” Parr said.

The eAcademy, located at the Training and Workforce Development Center at the LindenPointe innovation park in Hermitage, is open to high school seniors from throughout the area.

Instead of a traditional classroom format that emphasizes lectures followed by tests, students at the eAcademy hear from guest speakers, visit local businesses and form into groups to develop their own businesses.

Those business ideas can vary greatly depending on the students, such as one group’s business “Incrediballs” — a healthy, low-calorie snack that comes as small balls in resealable bags, Kent said.

DeRaleau said the project allowed him to incorporate his background as a chef, while the group had to figure out which ingredients were

See ENTREPRENEURS, page A-2

Anna Kavulla, an eAcademy student from Sharpsville, talks about the centerpieces being made for an upcoming fundraiser.

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Budding entrepreneurs organize fundraiser

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healthy while staying cost-efficient.

“We even did the taste-testing here with the class,” Kent said.

Another project, the “Tote Goat,” is a device that people could use to carry groceries into their home instead of lugging multiple bags at a time. The Tote Goat could fit inside the trunk of a vehicle, or simply be brought inside a grocery store, Connelly said.

A third project, “Send Sunshine,” involves care boxes that can be sent to people in pediatric care. The boxes’ contents, such as gifts or toys, can a be customized to a particular patient, and some boxes have already been tested at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, Kavulla said.

“They were so thankful,” Kavulla said of the patients. “When a kid has to stay at the hospital, it doesn’t really feel like home.”

Parr said it usually takes students a little time at the beginning of their senior year to get used to the differences between traditional classroom instruction and the eAcademy’s curriculum.

Gulla added that the eAcademy is also many students’ first experience working with students from other school districts.

However, the fundraising participants said they really enjoyed their time at the eAcademy, from learning to be more independent and getting outside of their comfort zone to meeting different people from the area’s business community.

“We’ve met so many people and done so much networking, and that’s something that’s going to benefit us moving forward,” Labbiento said.

The guest speaker for the fundraiser will be Bob Evans, founder and principal of Cloud Wars and co-founder and analyst at Acceleration Economy.

A 1974 graduate of Sharon High School, Evans studied English writing at the University of Pittsburgh and started his career in journalism with UBM TechWeb and CMP Media.

Evans then became editorial director and content director, both while senior vice president with the company.

Evans later led public relations and analyst relations teams at Oracle as their chief communications officer, and eventually created his first startup, Evans Strategic Communications.

For the fundraiser, Evans will discuss multiple topics including artificial intelligence, the rise of industry-specific technology, citizen developers, and “native digitals,” referring to people who have lived their whole lives alongside technology.

“He’s very good at taking these very complicated, very technological topics and explaining them in words that people can understand,” Parr said of Evans.

Tickets for the event cost $40 per person, and can be purchased online. For more information on tickets or sponsoring the event, visit the eAcademy’s website under the “Events” tab at ecenterlindenpointe. com. Sponsors will be accepted until about the end of April, and Parr said any sponsorships will be recognized at the eAcademy’s fundraiser.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.

Anna Kavulla, an eAcademy student from Sharpsville, makes centerpieces for an upcoming fundraiser to benefit the eAcademy, which teaches entrepreneurism skills.

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