It’s about where creative design meets innovation. Every year the Lancaster High School marketing students are tasked with a project-based opportunity in which a student team creates and markets a product online. This year the challenge is for student teams to design an innovative product from plastic utensils that reuses the cutlery into a new environmentally friendly product. LHS Marketing teacher Jennifer Blanchard explained the requirements of the competition.
“The innovation challenge 2024 was asking students to do two things; to generate a new product using plastic utensils as their core material so they can re-purpose or up-cycle plastic utensils, and to create a new product that needs to have a target market that assigns to it that it serves. In other words, it satisfies the need or want of a particular market segment,” she said.
According to Blanchard, the students were required to implement their skills in creative problem solving, collaboration and teamwork, and research.
“From there we worked on fine-tuning the product, setting up price-point for the product to make it profitable. They created their promotional plan for the product, like what advertising they want to use, where they’ll sell it,” said Blanchard.
LHS juniors Mia Wright and Ava Parrett, focused on how to use the plastic utensil to serve wildlife.
“We chose a hummingbird feeder for our product, or what we learned, an Eco-feeder. It’s fun, decorative, and different. It uses around thirty utensils and would attract birds with the bright colors if it worked” Wright said.
“We were researching different ideas for plastic utensil uses, until we found one that stood out. Our products are test-products. None of them are actually usable, they just have to look like they could work or be sold,” Wright added.
LHS juniors Trayvin Ervin and Riley Hayes focused on a product that has multiple uses in decoration, fashion, and gift-giving.
“Our product is a rose decoration. It was supposed to be a little bow used to wrap gifts, but we changed it into a decoration. We still aren’t fully sure if that decision is final. So far it’s a mix between the two,” Ervin said.
Ervin also described how time consuming melting and forming the spoons can be.
“We used a heat gun and then we taped the little spoon end to a piece of paper and melted it and moved it how we needed with a knife, we decided to go with red just because it takes a while to melt all the spoons”
Ervin and Hayes learned more of what to do with their product due to asking fellow classmates what would most appeal to them.
“We did a survey, and found out that a lot more people were going to use it as a decoration than compared to an actual bow. I think it’s a good idea, the survey definitely changed our idea of what we would do. I think it’ll work out in the end” Ervin stated.
Not only do the students gain the pride and joy of winning the student competition, but those who place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the competition will win cash prizes.
“Judges rate their marketing plan and their video quality gives them a score. The team with the highest score wins the competition amongst the class and also wins $150 from me. Second place wins $75, and third place gets $40,” Blanchard stated.
The students’ innovation competition will come to an end in the middle of May.
