NPHS’ Shark Tank has tough competition

New Prague High School seniors Savannah Smith and Sophia Metzdorff are the winners of the MARS (Mastering Academics and Real-World Skills) Business version of Shark Tank. The two had some tough competition, but perhaps the duo’s two toughest opponents was the weather and schedules, as the two-day event stretched out more than two weeks.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 20, and Wednesday, Dec. 21, in the high school’s auditorium, the first day went well. The second day was postponed by bad weather, the school’s holiday break and by bad weather again so the second day of competition was finally held Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Smith, daughter of Kate and Trevor Smith, and Metzdorff, daughter of Simone and John Metzdorff, were in the second day of competition and had to wait to make their presentation.

“It was fun,” said Metzdorff about the event. “It was super cool,” said Smith about the competition and their winning it was a “great surprise.”

The activity was for NPHS junior and senior students in the MARS program. Either in pairs or by themselves, the students gave presentations to four judges in a competition patterned after the TV show “Shark Tank.” The students had to come up with a product. They would then describe what it was for, who its target audience was, ask for investments to produce it and answer questions from judges Matt Goldade, Steve Eischens, Holly Hoffman and Brooke Sticha.

With the extra time Metzdorff and Smith had to prepare for their presentation, they didn’t do any additional practicing. They did practice on Jan. 10 and Smith felt they had it down. Metzdorff said the postponements due to the weather did get frustrating.

Their winning idea was..

To see more on this story pick up the January 19, 2023 print edition of The New Prague Times.