South’s TempaBand wins in high school innovator competition

Last weekend, 13 Wheaton Warrenville South students in the school’s Business INCubator course traveled to Millikin University this past Friday to compete at the Celebrating High School Innovators Competition, sponsored by Illinois State University, Millikin University and Pontiac High School.

All three student groups advanced to the second round and one group, TempaBand, was awarded $1,000 to invest in their business idea and each student also received $2,500 in scholarship money to Millikin University, renewable annually.

South students Thomas Gaita, Sam Schlegel, Ashton Baldwin, Nikita Colling, and Gene Hertlein are building their business model, TempaBand, a device worn on a wrist that will heat up when a person is cold. The device warms the bloodstream and sends a warming sensation throughout the body. It’s like a personal thermostat.

On May 20, the District is hosting Business INCubator’s annual Pitch Night in which several teams from North and South will pitch their business ideas to the program's Board of Advisors or “sharks”. The top three teams will be awarded seed money to invest in a start-up business.

For more information about the Business INCubator program, watch this short video!