It Starts Here: An Entrepreneurial Journey! On Thursday, May 15th, the Young Business Leaders Signature School Program presented their very first Business Showcase to over 140 guests.

Our students are grounded in the entrepreneurial mindset by learning the importance of failure and how to iterate. This event was designed to give our students an opportunity to showcase their very own business concepts that they have been developing all year! The goal is for our students to receive feedback to refine their ideas and potentially market and sell their own products and services in the future within our community.

This event also provided an opportunity to hear from local inventor, Robert “RJ” Batts, inventor of the Tip Tough on his journey from a middle school student here in Wicomico County to successful entrepreneur. When RJ was 12, he became consumed with the idea that there had to be a way to help his dad, a professional chef, protect his hands from getting cut. The Tip Tough’s big break nationally came in November 2021 when RJ appeared on the new small business pitch show America’s Big Deal. Small businesses pitch their products to America and the product that has the highest sales by the end of the show gets to make a big deal with one of three major retailers. RJ won the show with his Tip Tough and struck a $100,000 deal with Joy Mangano of QVC.

A special thank you to our parents for supporting our students, our custodial staff for helping to setup and take down our event, our wonderful dedicated teachers, and our school system leadership in supporting our students business, marketing, and entrepreneurial journeys.

Wicomico Middle