The day was jam-packed with a number of classes and presentations led by state administrators, coordinators and local leaders, but the main event of the day put the students and their creativity front and center.

Students had around six weeks to develop a concept and prepare a presentation to pitch, showcasing innovative thinking and creativity to make it a reality.

“As we move into a new chapter of life, entrepreneurship and innovation will become more crucial for our state and our country. The Marketplace for Kids program will play a critical role in fostering our next generation of business leaders,” said Wayde Sick, director of the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education. “Marketplace for Kids encourages your students or children to develop their own ideas, share their creativity and present them to an audience of all ages.”

Members of the public and local business leaders were invited to view the various pitches and projects in the “Hall of Great Ideas” and provide encouragement and support to the students. Students with especially unique or creative pitches received medals from business leaders participating in the event. Their pitches highlighted ideas as varied as robotic maids to electronic water faucets.

Students gather around Trudy Almond’s proof of concept for her Never Spill Water Fill, a high tech water dispenser that uses an Arduino, an RV water pump and simple coding to deliver exact and environmentally conscious amounts of water for cups and bottles of every size.

Trudy Almond’s concept for her Never Spill Water Fill, sent her and her father Jeremy Almond down a rabbit hole of problem solving as they brought her idea to life by tinkering on the weekends. Utilizing an Arduino microcontroller and some simple coding, Almond was able to sync a rudimentary touch screen that controlled a salvaged RV water pump to demonstrate an exacting water-dispensing system.

“This was her project. I touched nothing without her involved. It was her idea to go about this stuff,” Jeremy Almond said. “Trudy designed it. It can do all the different volumes. It’s a measured fill, so you don’t waste water. She got it all figured out.”