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Genius Project
With my project, I am only a little bit further than my last post. Although I have not been able to do much, I have had SOME progress. First off, I met with Mr. Morales to discuss funding options. He said that regardless of funding I should already start contacting the company, Elkay. This was a very exciting step for me because to me, it signifies the almost completion of my project. So, I sent an email out to Elkay asking them about product options, pricing, and logistics. The response I got back was less than exciting. "Thank you for reaching out to Elkay! As the manufacturer, we do not sell direct. The only price I am able to give you is the list price, which will vary from your purchasing price. Below I have listed the contact information for a local sales representative and local distributor. They can assist you in the pricing and purchasing process. Please feel free to reach out if you have more questions about the product or need help picking out the right one for your school." Ok, so "less than exciting" was a bit overdramatic, but I guess it wasn't what I was looking for. They did give me a couple distributors which I have started contacting, in fact, one of them is right by Palomar Airport (An area very close to me). For me the next step is reaching out to the distributors, and hopefully seeing what kind of price I can get on the water bottle fillers for Sage Creek. Later, I will also need to relay this information to Mr. Morales, and hopefully placing our very own order. From the last blog to now, the thing that I have learned is patience, people will not always give you the instantaneous response. Although frustrating, I learned to deal with it and prioritize other things I needed to do. Slowly but surely, I am getting closer and closer to finishing my project. Since my last post, I have had another meeting with Mr. Morales regarding my project. He said that he will soon have more information about funding on next Tuesday. To be honest, I did not know how to take this, could it be good news or bad news? Anyways, the next step for me is reaching out to the company, Elkay to see about what exact model would fit for our school, and hopefully see if we can get a discounted price. As far as I know, I think I will be able to get a special price because of the amount we are ordering. Another thing that Mr. Morales brought up was trying to see if any other schools in the area have used the product, and if so I would like to know their experience. What problems did they have? If they could do it again, what would they change? As of now I feel like I got the hardest part of the project accomplished: making it clear that this addition is necessary for Sage Creek. If everything goes according to plan, I hope to meet with Mr. Morales again after contacting Elkay, and after he has more information regarding possible additional funds. One last thing that I feel like I would need to do in order to "complete" (By "complete" I mean me being happy with the progression of my project) my project is officially present my idea to a larger group. I envision doing this to either district officials or a fundraising group. I feel like this is the last skill I would need to successfully model a typical business environment. Overall, I feel pretty good knowing that I learned many business skills from the Genius Project. Of course you could look at it as someone just putting something in their school, but really, I saw a problem, thought of a solution, presented my solution to someone who could help, and sold them on my solution. Aside from those extremely useful business skills, I also got to see all of the logistics and thought that goes into even a small project. About my project... it's been going well! So, about two weeks ago I was pretty disheartened with my project, I was still interested in the project, but I saw a future where my project fell apart. Luckily, I was able to talk to Mr. Shoevueiller. Of the professionals that came, he as the best one to talk to about my project. I first introduced my project to him, and he agreed with me that it was a good idea, but he brought the realistic view that I knew was coming with my project. I was mostly looking to him to find out what my next step should be. He told me that I should instead work more on getting the funds for the project, rather than focusing on permission from the district and school officials. His main advice was specifically HOW to fundraise the money. He recommended putting together a presentation to show to the Sage Creek Foundation and the Parent Teacher Student Association. This task first seemed pretty daunting to me, he placed quite an importance on the presentation and its impact on the board members of both organizations. Public speaking has never been really a strength or a weakness of mine. I feel as though in recent years I have gotten better at it, but the thought of a presentation like that did scare me. Although discouraged, I slowly started building up research for my new presentation. A few days later, I was sitting in the library as I usually do when Mr. Morales approached me, he wanted to have another meeting regarding my project, its funding, and its integration into Sage Creek. I was now even more motivated. I was especially proud to hear the "I have been thinking a lot about your project," that was very rewarding considering all of the preparation that went into the pitch of my first meeting. So, on Tuesday, (10/24) I have another meeting with Mr. Morales, which I have also prepared for extensively! In my meeting with Mr. Morales, I found out some slightly disheartening news. He told me that basically, my project is already being done. Although this is nice for the school, I was at first a bit sad that I would not have a part in it. However, it is not too late. He told me that Mr. Lord would be the person to talk to about it, so I emailed him, but have not heard back. I think I will try again soon!
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