In the time it takes to finish typing this sentence, at least one child in America will have dropped out of school.
Every nine seconds. It’s a compelling statistic and also the informative tagline for a skillful and engrossing documentary, “Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon,” that chronicles how an annual youth-oriented business competition is helping to address that culture and change lives.
The film follows the September 2008 to January 2009 business plan competition run by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). An international nonprofit, it was founded in 1987 by former New York City public school teacher Steve Mariotti, and teaches young people from low-income communities to think like entrepreneurs so they can take control of their futures.
A total of 24,000 students qualified to enter the competition, and through a series of statewide business competitions held during the year, they are whittled down to 30 regional winners who compete in a grand final held in New York City.
The winner receives $10,000 to launch his or her business. But perhaps most importantly, all the finalists get to interact with the some of the brightest minds in business today — the high-profile entrepreneurs who serve as judges.
They included the likes of Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons; Wyc Grousbeck, owner of the Boston Celtics; and Kay Koplovitz, founder of the USA Network.
Opening exclusively at AMC Theaters on Nov. 13, the movie is written, produced and directed by lawyer-turned-filmmaker Mary Mazzio.
But it’s the young entrepreneurs whose inspiring journeys hold center stage.
Stories like that of 18-year-old Rodney Walker, who, with his business partner Gabriel Echoles won the Chicago regional final for their video production business Forever Life Music & Video Productions.
Walker, who also narrates the film, was placed in the foster care system at the age of five, along with his six siblings — and ended up homeless on the streets.
“You have to visualize yourself to where you want to be,” Walker says in the film. He is now studying business at Morehouse College.
Other accomplished students are Jessica Cervantes, 18, owner of Miami-based Popsy Cakes; 17-year-old Tatyana Blackwell, whose Just Cheer Uniforms is based in Maryland; and 15-year-old Amanda Loyola, the New Yorker behind Eco Dog Treats LLC — a vegetarian dog biscuit business created after her own pet, Princess, died of cancer.
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