Young Auburn Elementary entrepreneurs make their 'Pitch'

A quartet of male students at Auburn Elementary School are preparing for the workforce. They can thank their younger siblings for building the start of their job skills. On Thursday night, the group and other students in sixth through eighth grades took part in the first Pitch Night for Young Entrepreneurs inside the elementary school's cafeteria. Beats Lyrics Leaders and the school were involved in the presentation of nearly a dozen participating students. The students are from the Entrepreneurship Academy. They showcased their business ideas to family, friends and the community in attendance. Before the students made their presentations, they spent the last two months learning, creativity and collaboration of their business ideas. Through the Entrepreneurship Academy, students embraced the core values of creativity, curiosity, collaboration, courage and confidence, which are essential for success in any entrepreneurial venture. The students presented unique ideas such as customized bracelet designs, to yard work services and babysitting clubs. Jamie Ross-Parrelli of Beats Lyrics Leaders hosted the event. Liam Peters, along with Aiden Suponch, Michael Tuttle and Gabe Jojo, are in the process of starting their own business called The Sitter Squad. The four young men feel they have the bulk of experience of being sitters; each is the eldest or middle child in their families. "We have a little reminder of our little siblings, and we thought it would be great if we could make a business," Peters said. "Our little siblings kind of gave us the idea." The group is looking to take in clients entering early January. That is when they will have their CPR certification. To advertise their adventures in sitting, the group of young men plan to advertise their business adventure that would include videos of them babysitting their younger siblings. "Once we have our first one or two clients, we're going to upload onto social media," Peters said. "Of course, with our parents' consent. Just to show how we do things, and why we would be good babysitters." Babysitting does take on a different approach, Peters added. "I definitely feel more like a babysitter than a sibling without the parents around," Peters said. "I think it's pretty fun." There's another perk of the on-the-job training for the quartet – becoming parents one day. "It's basically practice," said Peters, 14. "That's how I've seen it. You get the maturity." Suponch added, "It's fun to babysit. I like hanging around kids that are super fun, active." Tuttle feels that the extra responsibility will pay off as they get older.