Birmingham Students Show Presentation Skills, Gain Praise from Condoleezza Rice
Six teams of Birmingham Middle School students came to Regions Bank downtown Monday with plans for big business. The Huffman Middle School team of seventh graders left with the prize, and all the students received high praise from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who grew up in Birmingham schools.
The students spent months prepping for the pitch – learning about business, planning, and presentation in the style of the popular television show “Shark Tank.” This was their chance to sell a concept and show their skills to business, school and government leaders.
“Have you, any of you, ever had a family member or close friend dying of cancer, and you were staying at a hotel or with a friend that wasn’t close by? Do you regret not being close to their resting place?” asks Katherine Anderson. She stated her team’s case for a new hotel resort and cancer treatment center. The idea is to take care of family and caregivers while their loved ones receive treatment.
Student JaMaya Jackson made the final appeal.
“Sharks, the life of a loved one is priceless. We are asking for $500,000 for half of our company. We’ll use flyers, websites and billboards to get our company’s name out,” she says. “Don’t you want to be a part of this?”
Secretary Rice was impressed.
“It’s hard to get up in front of a group and sell your ideas. And somebody among this group is really going to be a great entrepreneur,” she says. “You could see that they loved it. They are passionate about it.”
A total of 26 students from throughout the school system participated in the Monday’s event. The earlier rounds of the competition and training included about 400 students, says Andrew Mitchell of the Birmingham Education Foundation.
The team from Huffman Middle School netted a $1,000 grant from Regions Bank, one of the sponsors of the program.
Mariah Carey, coffee makers and other highlights from the Olympic opening ceremony
NPR reporters at the Milan opening ceremony layered up and took notes.
Trump’s harsh immigration tactics are taking a political hit
President Trump's popularity on one of his political strengths is in jeopardy.
A drop in CDC health alerts leaves doctors ‘flying blind’
Doctors and public health officials are concerned about the drop in health alerts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since President Trump returned for a second term.
Photos: Highlights from the Winter Olympics opening ceremony
Athletes from around the world attended the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan.
Alabama sets execution for man in auto parts store customer’s death
Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday set a March 12 execution using nitrogen gas for Charles “Sonny” Burton. Burton was convicted as an accomplice in the shooting death of Doug Battle, a customer who was killed during an 1991 robbery of an auto parts store in Talladega.
Trump posts racist meme of the Obamas — then deletes it
Trump's racist post came at the end of a minute-long video promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
