BUFFALO, N.Y. — An end-of-year project at the Elmwood Franklin School has kids asking: "Do you want to make a deal?"
It’s a unique chance for fourth graders to try out their business skills.
“I’m gonna faint, oh God,” said fourth grader Michael Hardcastle as his teammate reassured him, "Breathe, we got this.”
It can be a nerve-racking ordeal, trying to seal a potentially multi-million-dollar deal, especially as a fourth grader.
“Just talk how we practiced, ok,” said fourth grader Sienna Lombardo as her team prepped to take the stage.
“We are ready to get going with the first day of fourth grade Shark Tank,” announced fourth-grade teacher Leigh Mikulka.
A capstone project going on around 10 years now, it’s a fun way to get the gears turning for these Elmwood Franklin School kids.
"I was talking about it since the beginning of the year,” said Lombardo.
“The students realized quickly that you can't just up and have a business," Mikulka explained. "You have to pay for things that go along with owning a company.”
They had 10 minutes to hopefully impress the "sharks."
“She took the bowl of Cheerios, she poured it in my spaghetti, and this is where Spaghetti-Os was born,” said Ryan McQueeney, a teacher and one of the sharks as he described his invented background.
The students' ideas were unique.
“It's called the electro 2.0. It gives you a small electric shot," said Hardcastle as he showed off a 3-D printed model of his team's device. "Our goal is to make kids less scared of shots.”
Each product came with a catch.
“Nutri nummies are so yummy,” chimed Lombardo with her team.
Sometimes the inventions tested the boundaries of modern advancements.
“If they're thinking about it now and they're allowing their creativity to thrive, perhaps that's technology that we'll see in the future,” said Mikulka.
“Calculating the monthly budget," laughed Hardcastle. "That was the hardest thing to do.”
They used what they learned from school and special guests to leverage their product.
“We are asking for $300,000 for 35% ownership,” said Lombardo.
But you can’t prep for everything.
“Have you hit it with any sort of sports balls?” questioned one "shark."
“I would like to know if you have done any testing on potential side effects,” asked another.
“Talk to me about how you’re minimizing packaging,” a third said.
At the end of the day and after some give and take, the sharks all bit.
“You know me, I’m the Spaghetti-Os guy,” said McQueeney. “I’m thinking 300K for 30%.”
“Mr. McQueeney, you have a deal,” responded Lombardo.
“Getting a deal was surprisingly a lot easier than I expected it to be,” Lombardo added.
Some encouragement came from actual "shark" Daymond John.
“If you do really good, we can get you on the set and then you can actually replace Barbara, Kevin, Laurie, and of course, Robert," John joked.
These 37 students are using that encouragement as fuel and leaning into their creativity.
“If you have an idea, just keep going with it and see where it takes you,” said Lombardo.
“The whole day, I was thinking, 'Am I ready for this? Is my group ready for this?' And then I went up there, and we were," said Hardcastle. "We were ready.”
So who knows what could be next?
“I always tell the students, when you actually are on Shark Tank and you become rich and famous, please just remember Ms. Mikulka and where it all started,” said Mikulka.
Mikulka says she did hear from at least one student who may have been inspired by this project in their later life. She says he went on to Cornell and recently won a pitch competition on campus.