An Elliot Lake student is making a pitch to Sault Ste. Marie - based Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship in hopes of getting backing for her online reading tutoring program called BookBuds.
Emlyn Goulding, 13, has submitted her bid for the BookBuds program which involves online instruction to build book appreciation and literacy skills for kids in Grades 1 through 6.
She passed her first hurdle, but she needs votes for her program as a finalist in Millworks' Bridges to Better Business Pitch Competition. It will culminate with an online presentation to be held on Thursday, October 22.
People are invited to register for the event which will run from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. that day.
Emyln is in Grade 8 doing virtual learning at l'école publique élémentaire virtuelle. She's also part of the Elliot Lake ski racers and involved with TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of other languages) certified, as well as TEYL (Teaching English to young learners) certified.
Millworks Centre's Bridges to Better Business is an annual event that targets entrepreneurs in Algoma Region and Sault Ste. Marie.
Each year during Small Business Week, the event brings together businesses in various stages of development for an open exchange of ideas, advice and feedback lead by speakers and mentors.
This year's theme is Forging the Way Forward. Two local businesses will make it to the Top 2 for this year’s Pitch Competition. They will have the opportunity to share their business idea with the audience and the judging panel.
The audience will then get to vote for their favourite business idea and the winner will receive a grand prize.
For more information, go here.
Goulding's business BookBuds is a one-on-one guided reading service. The idea is to provide quality tutoring for kids in grades 1-6 through video call software.
It involves virtual sessions that are designed to replicate the ‘Book Buddy’ program that most schools have in place to help kids’ reading skills.
She wrote, "I feel that there is a market for the service with the parents who choose to homeschool, with parents who are choosing to have their kids participate in virtual learning during the pandemic, as well as parents from both groups who want more options for their kids' social interaction."
"I’ve made it through the first round, and if I make it through this round, I’ll be participating in a virtual pitch-off.
"To make it through, I need people to vote for our pitch video, found here.
She went on, "I started working BookBuds after the pandemic hit.
"Because I didn’t feel comfortable babysitting while COVID-19 was circulating, I took some courses and applied to teach English as a second language to children online.
"Apparently, companies were uncomfortable with hiring someone my age (13). However, I knew being young was an advantage through my experience with the ‘BookBuds’ program at school, babysitting and doing some courses.
"I was trying to figure out how to teach online through Zoom but had issues with problems like accepting money, using a popular video conferencing system that works in both countries, etc.
"A family friend suggested just doing guided reading lessons in Canada. I loved the idea and thought perhaps I might be better at tutoring kids to read instead of general English.
"And here we are. We have everything set up but are hoping to get better equipment to improve lesson quality.
"I have made my first sales, and am now doing sessions with clients after having done some test sessions with local kids.
She concluded, "You can learn more about my business by visiting my website or my Facebook @bookbuds.ca."