Connecting Classrooms to Careers in Bio-Innovation
Through its Future Connect initiative, Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans partnered with Nucleate and New Orleans BioInnovation Center to help host the Fourth Annual Bright Kids in Biotech Event. This exciting event connects high school students to the region’s growing bio-innovation ecosystem. By convening education and industry partners, JA ensured students had direct access to mentors, real-world problem solving, and entrepreneurial learning experiences that bring science and innovation to life.
Students from Booker T. Washington High School, Frederick A. Douglass High School, and John F. Kennedy High School worked in small teams to imagine, design, and develop innovative biotech-inspired products. Throughout the day, students collaborated to identify real-world problems, build creative solutions, and refine their ideas into entrepreneurial pitch-style presentations.
After sharpening their concepts, teams went head-to-head in a Shark Tank–style pitch competition judged by members of the Nucleate New Orleans leadership team. Students confidently articulated the problem, explained their solution, and demonstrated the potential real-world impact of their inventions.
A huge congratulations to the winning team from Booker T. Washington High School for their product, Power Patch, a solar-charging battery pack that doubles as a phone case. The idea was both highly practical and incredibly creative, reflecting the innovation and forward-thinking mindset students demonstrated throughout the event.
Events like Bright Kids in Biotech embody what Future Connect is designed to do.
Future Connect connects classroom learning to high-growth industries across Greater New Orleans, including healthcare, biotechnology, robotics, and advanced technology. By partnering with industry leaders and innovation hubs, JA ensures students gain:
Exposure to emerging career pathways
Experience thinking like entrepreneurs and innovators
Practice communicating ideas with confidence
Insight into how science, technology, and business intersect
It was inspiring to watch students step into the roles of innovators, founders, and problem-solvers and to see them asking big questions, thinking critically, and pitching bold ideas with confidence.
Early exposure to entrepreneurship and biotech can fundamentally shift how young people see their futures. Through partnerships like this, JA is helping build a generation of students who are academically prepared today and economically empowered tomorrow.
Thank you to Nucleate and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center for their partnership and commitment to young people in our region.