This story was submitted by Gianna Chan, grade 11.

From Oct. 19-23, five teams participated in California DECA’s business pitch challenge, an entrepreneurship video competition modeled after the entrepreneurship events in DECA conferences. Competitors were required to create a new business idea and record a 10-minute presentation about their product or service.

Three Harker students, Harshini Chaturvedula, Anjali Yella and Jasmine Ishikawa, all grade 9, won second place with their app Oasis, which provides detailed information on COVID-19 statistics and safety tips. The app features an interactive map displaying local COVID case numbers, as well as a user rating system for cities and locations such as malls and restaurants focusing on three main areas: mask usage, social distancing and sanitation. “Going into the challenge, we mainly just hoped to receive some feedback and did not expect to win anything,” Yella said. “We worked continuously on our project and received feedback from our parents and DECA mentors, using this to improve our innovation. We learned how to distribute work amongst ourselves and also use teamwork to complete the project on time.”

Congratulations to Harshini, Anjali and Jasmine and all of the participants!