Carissa Napier, a sophomore at Wadsworth High School, submitted her business plan to the Believe in Ohio Competition, which qualified at a state level, awarding her a $500 scholarship for the written plan on April 27, 2024.

The Believe in Ohio Competition is a program in which 9 through 12 graders in business classes can submit entrepreneurial plans and pitches. The competition awards scholarships to students with outstanding written plans.

Napier had originally heard about Believe in Ohio from Mr. Kaufman, her Business Entrepreneurship teacher, as a freshman. She won the scholarship last year too.

“Last year, they chose 100 students to go, and only five of them were freshmen, so that felt really good to me,” Napier said.

At the end of last year’s ceremony, Napier was told that she could submit again the next year. She said that it was not worth passing up the opportunity to win the scholarship a second time.

“She created the plan on her own and submitted it and did a great job again this year,” said Mr. Kaufman, Napier’s former Business Entrepreneurship teacher.

But despite the choice of competition, Napier’s interest is not in STEM or business, she has more passion for music. 

Her winning business plan was Flute Flex, a wrist brace for flute players to correct the angle at which they hold their instrument and relax their muscles. This prevents them from developing carpal tunnel, Napier explained. 

Next year, Napier will compete in the Believe in Ohio Competition again, possibly extending her business plan to include a pitch speech, which is a different group of competitors. 

She plans to study Music Technology at Kent State University after high school, pursuing her dreams within the music world. 

“If you’re given a chance for something this good, you might as well take it because the possibilities of something like this coming up again are rare and it can take you a long way,” Napier said.