Bright ideas and business pitches filled the room at Marist High School last week as students unveiled products they hope could solve real-world problems and maybe even become the next big thing.
The school’s 12th annual IDEA Pitch Night, held May 12, gave students in Marist’s honors-level entrepreneurship program the chance to present original business concepts to a panel of judges and compete for investment money to help grow their ideas.
Taking home the top prize was ClearPath, a company created by seniors Donovan Alberts, Blake Balsinger, Joe Blas and Ayden Ginn. Their idea, a transparent windshield film designed to reduce the blinding glare from LED headlights, earned the team first place and a $10,000 award.
The students developed the product in response to growing complaints from drivers who struggle with intense headlight glare during nighttime driving. The film is designed to be applied once to a windshield and work continuously without requiring drivers to wear special glasses or adjust their habits behind the wheel.
The winning pitch stood out for both its practicality and broad appeal, targeting what the students described as a problem affecting millions of drivers across the country.
Second place went to Haven, a discreet smart safety bracelet created by Hailee Burden, Juliana Gregory, Tess Celauro and Liana Page. Designed to look like everyday jewelry, the bracelet includes hidden safety features that allow users to quickly send an SOS alert and share their live location with trusted contacts and emergency responders.
PicklPal earned third place during the competition. The app, developed by Thomas Hollowell, Thomas O’Brien, Jonathan Grajeda, Sean Murphy and Francesco Levato, was created with pickleball players in mind. The platform includes skill-based matchmaking, tournament tools, match tracking and an AI coach named “Dink” to help players improve their game.
Throughout the evening, students pitched their businesses to a panel of judges made up of business leaders and Marist alumni. Judges included retired executive and former IDEA teacher Jim Henneberry, JLL executive Jane Curran and entrepreneur Kevin O’Finn, who won Marist’s first IDEA competition as a student in 2017.
The competition marked the end of a school year spent building and refining business ideas in Marist’s IDEA course, which stands for Innovative Design for Entrepreneurial Applications.
The class, taught by Tim Mulcahy, a 1993 Marist graduate with a background in technology and entrepreneurship, gives juniors and seniors hands-on experience creating products, researching markets and learning the fundamentals of running a business.