Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The community is invited to support and celebrate local student entrepreneurs at the third annual Kosciusko Student Venture Challenge: 2026 Student Showcase on Thursday, April 16 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center (MOCC) at Grace College, 610 Wooster Road, Winona Lake.
The event is hosted by the Kosciusko Student Venture Challenge Steering Committee in partnership with Believe in a Dream Inc.
The Kosciusko Student Venture Challenge (KSVC) program now includes all local high schools, adding Triton Jr.-Sr. High School this year.
“Partnering with KSVC has been a tremendous opportunity for Triton and our students. We have been able to connect our students with community members and entrepreneurs in order to help them build real life businesses. It has been a tremendous experience for our students to learn and launch functional businesses in our community. KSVC has allowed our students to take their business Ideas and turn them into a reality, said Joel Grindle, Triton Jr-Sr. High School business teacher.
The program, originally co-founded with regional entrepreneurship expert Steve Franks, has transitioned to local leadership. Student programming is now facilitated by teacher-coaches Scott Greene of Warsaw and Aaron Engbrecht of Tippecanoe Valley, serving students from Lakeland Christian Academy, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee, Whitko and Triton high schools.
“Over the past several months, these students have shown an incredible level of dedication, creativity and perseverance,” said Kosciusko County Coordinator and program co-founder Amy Roe. “They’ve spent countless hours developing their ideas, learning the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, and working through the challenges that come with building a business concept from the ground up. We invite community members to come out, see what these students have accomplished, and show their support as the next generation of entrepreneurs take the stage.”
Emerging from findings through the HELP Kosciusko program in 2023, the goal of the program is to grow and strengthen the local entrepreneurial ecosystem by introducing high school students to an entrepreneurial mindset and foundational business principles. The program covers topic such as initial business idea development, elevator pitches, prototyping, marketing and lead generation, financial goals, receiving peer-to-peer and community adult mentor feedback, and more.
“From my perspective, KSVC creates a powerful bridge between the classroom and the real world. While I teach digital media, the Student Venture Bootcamps bring together students from across the school who have ideas they want to explore and develop. Programs like this help students realize they don’t have to wait until after graduation to start building something that matters,” said Warsaw teacher coach and co-facilitator Scott Greene.
Attendees are welcome to come and go throughout the evening on April 16th.
The schedule of events includes:
5 p.m. - Enjoy appetizers while meeting new friends and learning more about the program.
5:15 - 5:30 p.m. - Welcome, Roe and Greene
5:30 – 7:30 p.m. - Visit student business booths "expo" style. Peruse the rows of student businesses.
8 p.m. – Awards
8:45 p.m. - Closing remarks
This event is free to attend and attendees should RSVP via the link by Thursday, April 2 at https://biad.donorwrangler.com/register/?id=6
Sponsors include HELP Kosciusko, Believe in a Dream, Glaze Foundation and Don Wood Foundation as lead sponsors; Dekko Foundation, gold sponsor; award sponsor, Core Mechanical; and supporting sponsors, Grace College, KEDCO, Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce, Lakeland Christian Academy, Orthoworx, Plug & Play Kosciusko, Split Road Media; Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Whitko, Warsaw and Wawasee high schools.
