Annual Saints Tank Competition Returns for 15th Year

The entrepreneurial spirit remains alive and well at NSA with the Upper School's 15^th annual Saints Tank competition!

The annual contest, which is a spin on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank," challenges students in Principles of Economics to create a product to solve real-world problems. Each year, Saints Tank evolves, and Mr. Truesdell and Ms. Parker work to improve the project in an effort to give students the best experience possible. The focus for the assignment is now on implementing the Design Thinking process, which helps students to become creative problem solvers.

This year, teams of students were tasked with creating different products relating to education. Participants prepared their presentations for weeks before presenting on April 13 to the first panel of sharks, which included current parent and past trustee Dr. Dimi Barot '93, former Suffolk City Councilman and past trustee Mr. Don Goldberg, current parent Mr. Andy Rivenbark '04, Director of Finance and Accounting Mrs. Angie Thompson '01 and past parent Mrs. Michelle Wren.

The first round included six groups, who set out to solve problems students and teachers face in schools. Participants created a Google Chrome extension that identifies grammar mistakes in foreign languages and explains to students why the text is correct (Unuhi), an all-in-one app that allows students to access their key cards and funds for various on-campus shops and eateries (NSAccess), an online tutoring service that matches students and teachers who have similar interests (Teletutor), a system that allows students and teachers to pre-order lunch (Quick-Eats), a portable seat cushion for classroom seats (Foam-N-Go) and a 3D tool created in the STEM Innovation Lab that helps calculus students who have difficulty learning 3D concepts on a two-dimensional plane (ModL).

The sharks evaluated each group based on their problem-solving ability, product creation/prototype and the final presentation. Ultimately, it was NSAccess, Teletutor and ModL who were selected to move on to the finals, held after school on April 17.

Finalists faced a new round of sharks, including Senior Vice President for Investments at Davenport & Co. Mrs. Meghan Councill, past trustee and current parent Ms. Nicole Harrell '92, Head of School and current parent Mrs. Debbie Russell, current parent Mr. Scott Janney and current parent Mrs. Mallory Tuttle. With their work in education and start-ups, these sharks provided invaluable feedback to our finalists as they made the final pitches for their products.

After consulting with the other sharks, Mrs. Russell announced that they selected Becca Howe '23, Sara Olsen '24 and Clarissa Wilson '23 with NSAccess as the winner. Team members marketed the app as a more convenient way to access everything NSA has to offer, from its buildings to the Spirit Shop to concession stands and more.

“The goal for the project is to improve student problem-solving skills and creativity while working collaboratively with their peers," said Mr. Truesdell. "Each group identified a real problem faced by NSA students and worked to create a usable prototype as a solution. Students presented their concepts to the panelists and addressed questions with tremendous knowledge and poise. I can definitely see their ideas coming to fruition in the marketplace.”

Congratulations to all of our Saints Tank participants, and thank you to Mr. Truesdell, Ms. Parker and all of our sharks for their time and dedication to this event!

View NSAccess' Trailer

View ModL's Trailer

View Teletutor's Trailer