A Glimpse into the Worlds of Grade 7 Noodle Entrepreneurs!

Since 2020, Branksome has offered the Noodle entrepreneurial program, which has helped to nurture leadership within Branksome students in the Middle and Senior Schools. Noodle’s workshops have enabled students to pursue their passions and make a difference both in the Branksome community and beyond. We have been told by students countless times about this amazing opportunity and were motivated to tell you about some of the middle school students who are utilizing this program to make an impact on the school community in meaningful ways.  

To begin we will take a look at Grade 7 students Alysa and Addie and their unique Noodle company. These intuitive thinkers have created a sustainable, wooden, and sectioned locker organizer, customized to fit the Branksome lockers. “We looked at a few other locker organizers on Amazon and they didn’t meet the needs of the students at Branksome as they were all either plastic or metal,” says  Addie and Alysa. The locker organizer has storage compartments for gloves, hats, AirPods, phones, a lunch box, shoes/boots, etc. As an additional benefit, Alysa and Addie will be decorating the locker organizers with fun and free stickers to enhance the overall look. What makes this company unique is that 30% of Addie and Alysa’s profits will go towards the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an organization dedicated to helping the environment. The team is planning on selling their products at Branksome Noodle pop-ups in the AWC. They are passionate about making a difference in a student’s life. “We know people can often get overwhelmed when they lose things and we want to prevent this from happening.” 

The second Noodle participants we would like to spotlight are Grade 7 student Anya and her group. They have designed a babysitting service, hoping to help parents manage their chaotic lives, whether they wanted to have some free time or were just busy working. They started by brainstorming ideas and decided babysitting was the best option. Alexandra, a member of this Noodle group, explained how they had previous experiences with less effective nannies and babysitters which is what had inspired them to start this company. “One day we were exchanging stories about our nannies and got the idea of making a babysitting business so other children wouldn’t have to go through many nannies/babysitters.”  This service allows parents to take time for themselves, while still giving kids fun activities to keep them entertained. They wanted the parents to feel that they had someone to take care of their child who was reliable, fun, and knew what to do in various situations. Furthermore, they want their clients to be recurring customers and enjoy their service. One of their biggest goals was to make sure that no kid ever wanted to get rid of their babysitter because of bad experiences. They never want any child to feel unsafe or bored when they are with them. Anya and her group hope that their customers come in at an even pace, approximately 1-2 times per week. They aim to reach a point where they are making a bit of money to keep the company going. To advertise, they are handing out flyers and trying to get put featured in the ‘Friday File’. To further progress their company, they are also getting certificates to verify their babysitting license and create a social media platform. This Noodle company looks like it is on the right track to success! 

The third group of middle school entrepreneurs we would like to highlight are Mila, Zoé, and Mathilda, these three Grade 7 entrepreneurs have designed whistle bracelets as their product. This unique product is not only a stylish accessory, but more importantly, includes a safety whistle! Their bracelets have a whistle attached to them, disguised as a bead. This makes sure that whenever a person wearing the bracelet is in danger they can alert people around them. They are designing these bracelets so that you can not only be fashionable but also stay safe. What a fascinating company!

Finally, to conclude, we would like to share with you a little bit about the Noodle company Green Jewels; although this company is operated by a team of Grade 11 students, we loved their products and thought they deserved an honourable mention. Green Jewels is a sustainable jewelry company created by Grade 11 students Apple and Jordin! This innovative company kicked off in April 2023 and has been attracting many buyers with its unique and beautiful products. Green Jewels offers many accessories, including bracelets, necklaces, keychains and phone charms, just to name a few. The company initially started as a stationery business, however, they realized that jewelry was more popular amongst their target audience, our Branksome community. “We wanted to create a middle ground for sustainable jewelry that was both affordable and timeless,” Jordin says.  50% of Green Jewels’ profits go towards ‘Fridays for the Future’, a charity for climate change that was started by activist Greta Thunberg. Green Jewels has also been crafting their products with recyclable beads, each jewelry piece handmade by Apple and Jordin themselves.  Many of Green Jewels’ products are simple and unique, a style that captures the attention of many buyers. Furthermore, as Branksome is a uniformed school, jewelry was a way to add personality and character to a student’s outfit. Green Jewels have also been using various marketing strategies to advertise their product. They are quite popular on their Instagram page and have also received inquiries globally from both Brazil and New Zealand. A future advancement for Green Jewels might be to expand globally, however, the company is planning on remaining in the Branksome community for now. What a remarkable business!

We hope this article inspires you to find other ways to take action within your community! Whether it’s by starting a business of your own through the Noodle program or teaching people about the issues you are passionate about! Thank you to all those who took the time to teach us about your companies, we are so happy we could spotlight your achievements for the school to read about!