Largest Ever Dublin City Student Enterprise Awards
The Student Enterprise Awards has been organised by the DCEB to promote entrepreneurship among children in secondary schools.
On the 10th of March, the judges decided which student businesses’ are the best and should represent Dublin City in the National Student Enterprise Award Finals.
41 enterprises representing 21 Schools from all over Dublin City took part, making the 2011 edition the largest ever Student Enterprise Awards in Dublin City history.
The competition really started back in September when the pupils are briefed about the awards and the benefits of being an entrepreneur. They had until Friday, February 25th to get their business reports in to the Enterprise Board so they can be read before the judging begins on the 10th in Croke Park.
Students have to include various elements in their business reports, including the financial aspect of the business, the production and raw materials costs. They should include also whether or not they make a profit or a loss over all. Pictures of the product, market research including questionnaires and surveys should be included to give the judges the impression that no stone gets left unturned when researching if the product can be a success or not.
Awards are given to winners and runner- up enterprises across three categories: Junior, Intermediate and Senior. There are also awards for ‘Best Display’, Margaret Farrell Award, the Merit Award and the Endeavour Award. There were also spot prizes given to the winners of the quiz the students took part in during the day and for a lucky teacher, who got their name pulled out of the draw.
The winners in the Junior category were ‘The Write Time’ from Loreto on the Green, the Intermediate winners were ‘Crystal Images & Accessories’ from St. Dominic’s in Cabra, and the Senior category winners were ‘Home Bird Eggs’ also from St. Dominic’s. The Margaret Farrell Award recognises the highest levels of entrepreneurial spirit and went to ‘Bare Necessities’, from the all boys school St. Paul’s CBS on Brunswick Street for their great efforts in their first time participating.
Congratulations to all those that took part in what was the biggest ever Enterprise Awards, it was a very competitive field this year. The winners of the Dublin City Student Enterprise Awards will now go on to represent Dublin City in the National Finals on Thursday April 14th, also to be held in Croke Park, to decide the best student business in the country.