Sacred Hearts School received the $10,000 prize in American Savings Bank’s KeikiCo Business Plan Competition during a surprise assembly on Dec. 12.

LAHAINA – On Thursday, Dec. 12, the Sacred Hearts School HEARTS Council waited in anticipation to hear what they had won from their entries in the 2019 KeikiCo contest.

American Savings Bank asked students from different schools to create a business plan that would allow them to win anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 for their brilliant young and new ideas!

American Savings Bank representatives Vanessa Moreno of the Lahaina Branch and Michelle Bartell, who flew over from Oahu, presented a check for $10,000, the county prize for the highest participation!

The HEARTS Council, made up of representative students from the fifth through eighth grades, took on this challenge with guidance, encouragement and support from Principal Dr. Miguel Solis and worked hard on business plans for the island-wide KeikiCo Contest.

Dr. Solis said, “I felt this was an opportunity for our students to be involved in real-world, problem-solving scenarios. The students worked together to create a pitch and plan. They worked through any problems to meet the objective, and each excelled in their accomplishments.”

The council broke off into small groups of two to five students and spent several weeks creating mock businesses that would positively impact their community.

Dr. Solis added that “they naturally got into their groups. I did not group them, and that is how the real world works.”

Participants created written business plans and a video pitch. With the help of parent and videographer Luis Barreno, the SHS kids were able to make persuasive pitches for their businesses.

A couple of the groups filmed right on campus, while other groups ventured to the beach in Lahaina to create their videos.

Sacred Hearts School entered five business plans into the KeikiCo contest. Eighth-graders Alyssa, Mia, Camryn, Katelyn and Kalia created Shell Phones, a business focused on reducing the amount of plastic and trash found on the beach.

With the combination of plastic trash, sea glass and sand, these girls came up with some beautiful cell phone cover designs.

Kalia said, “We began by taking old cases donated to us by friends and family and painted them, then laid sea glass on them to create a design and then finalized with a modge-podge glue seal.”

Their idea was to make money by helping to keep the beaches beautiful – and customers get a cool cell phone case in return!

The trio also added that they would donate a portion of their profits to Sacred Hearts and an ocean-conscious foundation.

Makai Awareness, a souvenir business created by fifth- and seventh-graders Karissa, Jeremiah, Wyatt and Anuhea, focused on providing souvenir necklaces, bracelets and stickers, made by them, and donate 6 percent of their earnings to charities and organizations that benefit the local environment.

Fifth- and sixth-graders Mia, Layla, Summer, Nora and Gianna created Aloha Honu, a business that would sell T-shirts and cookies with images and illustrations to bring awareness to the endangered sea turtles.

Eighth-graders Kaikane and Pierce, along with seventh-grader Landon, created Na Kai Hele. This trio, a.k.a. The Sea Savers, wanted to form a jewelry company that would make rings out of plastic trash found in the ocean. Their motto is: “Our Forever Impact Starts today!”

The last of the groups was the sixth-grade duo Cameron and Noah. Their idea was to create a Deer Jerky business called Shaka Jerky on Maui to help control the overpopulation of deer destroying properties and golf courses.

Dr. Solis concluded that “this could not have happened without the support of the parents and teachers. The HEARTS Council and I are so honored to have won this generous award grant from American Savings Bank.”

Eighth graders Alyssa and Kalia commented that “we enjoyed working together as a team and learned useful life skills. In the future, if we ever want to create a business, we have an idea of how to begin.”

To learn about Sacred Hearts School, visit www.shsmaui.org. The school is hosting an Open House on Sunday, Jan. 26, from noon to 2 p.m.

Also scheduled are two Shadow a Student Days on Jan. 29 and Feb. 11. To RSVP for any of these, call Yvette Richard at (808) 298-9679 or e-mail development@shsmaui.org.