St. Margaret’s Grade 7 ‘Tartan Tank’ Ideas Pitched to Entrepreneurs From Shark Tank

Grade 7 science students completed their innovation design “Tartan Tank” projects this month, pitching their ideas and prototypes to fellow students—with some pitching to entrepreneurs recently featured on the television show Shark Tank. 

 

The Tartan Tank projects were a two-week design sprint which included product ideas from three main categories in bioengineering: heal the world, fuel the world and feed the world. 

 

All of the grade 7 students pitched their product to grade 6 students during a high-energy demo day recently. “Grade 6 students selected products they were interested in funding after listening to the presentations and observing the product demos,” said science teacher Eric Harrington, who created the Tartan Tank entrepreneurial unit in the Middle School. 

 

For students who wanted to continue pursuing their idea, they were able to pitch their product to a family of entrepreneurs with very relevant experience. 

 

The Clark family, creators of Tandm Surf, recently went on the hit ABC show Shark Tank to pitch their inflatable bodyboard product. The family, who lives in San Clemente, secured funding on the show to continue growing their business. 

 

Several members of the Clark family came to St. Margaret’s this week to hear pitches from the grade 7 students and share their story with the Middle School students. 

 

“We are thankful for the Clark family for sharing their insight, experiences and advice from Tandm Surf with our students,” Mr. Harrington said. “I thought our students did a fantastic job sharing their ideas and listening to great advice from a family of entrepreneurs who have inspired so many others with their story.”