Young entrepreneurs "rise" to the call

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Some Central Austin high school students have a new opportunity to create their own business from scratch.

Some five teams will compete for "seed money" in a program called RISE High.

The acronym stands for Relationship and Information Series for Entrepreneurs, and the program is for high-schoolers.

For the last four years, coordinators' competition has helped students think beyond the classroom to real-world business applications.

"We have learned how to make an executive summary,” said Christianna Mendoza, a RISE competitor. “Come up with a business plan. We've made a PowerPoint. We've looked at graphs."

Mendoza is a junior at Crocket High School, and her business plan centered on a mentoring project.

She said she wants to reduce the dropout rate by encouraging students to stay in school with the help of someone who cares.

While preparing to put her plan through the RISE competition, she has learned more about creating an organization or business than some adults. That knowledge gives her strength.

“I'm very confident in our project and our presentation," said Mendoza.

"Students are allowed to further elaborate on a business concept that they had ideas about initially and working with their mentors to further flesh out the details," said Sonia Gaillard, co-chair of RISE High.

The competition is open to high school students in the central Austin area, but it has sparked interest as far away as San Antonio.

On Friday morning, teams will share their business plans with a panel of successful Austin entrepreneurs. These professionals will provide structured feedback and guidance for honing the proposals and putting plans into action.

And the best part: The winner will bring home the "seed money."

"What it does is enable them to buy supplies that they will need in order to get their businesses up and running," said Gaillard.

"I am hoping it will make our mentoring program a success and make it bigger,” said Mendoza. “Maybe we can take it to other schools, too."

RISE is hosting a five-day conference in Austin from March 1 through March 5. Click here for more information about RISE.