Two teams of students from Carly Rinda’s Digital Marketing & Business Fundamentals department at the Carbon Career & Technical Institute attended the Bloomsburg University’s ninth annual Husky Dog Pound, a business pitch competition much like the TV show “Shark Tank,” held March 26 at Bloomsburg University.

The various teams from middle and high schools created a product and presented it to a panel of judges. Each team had three minutes plus additional time for questions and answers.

“The student developed the product, then pitched it for 3 minutes to a panel of judges, and the top schools earn cash prizes,” Rinda said.

CCTI’s Team 1 featured Isabella Harris, a freshman from Jim Thorpe; Kiera Lager, a sophomore from Jim Thorpe; and Victoria Thomas, a sophomore from Palmerton; who created the KIBE Bag, a handmade tote specially designed to keep a person organized with special needs at the heart of the concept.

Isabella and Kiera were at the joint operating committee meeting and recreated their presentation to the committee, displaying the bag prototype they created.

Team 2 featured Jeremiah Donadi, a junior from Weatherly; and Ethan Zettlemoyer, a freshman from Panther Valley. Their product was the “Slugger Sleeve,” a baseball bat sleeve that would prevent damage to the bat during cold weather.

Donadi and Zettlemoyer won 13th place and were awarded $100 each and a ribbon.

Rinda displayed a poster presentation of their product and the ribbon. Due to a scheduling conflict, the students could not attend the meeting.