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upper sixth pupils from Friends' School have been selected as
regional finalists in their age category in a competition called
'The Big Idea'.
The competition involved pupils coming up
with an enterprising and profitable idea which would benefit the
local community.
The young entrepreneurs were invited to the
grand final awards lunch at the Culloden Hotel, Cultra. The
event, hosted by Mylene Klass, was organised in conjunction with
Invest Northern Ireland and was a huge success, with the
finalists of all age groups present.
The Friends' team and their Big Idea of an
environmentally friendly bag, faced opposition from RBAI, Abbey
Christian Brothers Grammar school, The Ballynahinch Group and
Thornhill College, Derry.
The ideas were judged by global panels of
judges in Dublin, London, Dubai, Boston, Shanghai and Belfast,
with Friends' coming second by a single point. This was a huge
achievement, considering there were fifty-two entrants in this
category.
Despite this setback, the pupils have been
inspired to continue, with the competition having given them the
opportunity to meet Peter Jones (of the BBC's Dragon's Den), and
Mylene Klass (of I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here).
In addition, as regional finalists, they have
been awarded �1000 which will be used to further their
distribution of environmentally friendly bags.
Ulster Star
05/12/2008
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