Make48 winners talked about their journey in the competition in front of educators at emPowerU

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)-- Students from across Northwest Missouri who participated in — and won — this year’s Make48 real-world learning projects shared their experiences with a room full of educators at emPowerU Friday.

For Spring Garden Middle School ELA teacher Stephanie Lyle, seeing her students reach this point has been rewarding.  

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity, a lot of learning, a lot of engagement in the classroom and students getting excited about the project and their learning,” she said.  

The students will head to Wisconsin in July for the national Make48 competition, where teams are challenged to create a product in just 48 hours.  

Lyle said she hopes her students continue pushing themselves and create something they are proud of.  

“I am so proud to see the courage of these kids to get up in front of adults and a whole room full of educators, which takes a lot, and so I am really proud of them for that,” Lyle said.  

Team member JaeLa Hogan said it felt great to finally present after all the work they’ve put in.  

“I am very happy and excited and I can’t wait and I am glad that I got to have this experience with my best friends,” she said.  

She said one of the biggest challenges was narrowing down the team’s main idea and figuring out the direction they wanted to take.  

At the same time, one of her favorite parts of the experience was getting to work alongside her friends every day. 

Another team member, Trevon Hoffman, said their close friendship helped them throughout the process.  

“It felt refreshing and different since I am not used to going up and speaking. I am quite but this is something we do now more often and usually in front of friends or family,” he said.  

Hoffman added how one of the best parts of the experience was being able to continue working on the project outside of school and seeing how important it became to all of them. 

For Alexander Arroyoruiz, speaking in front of educators felt empowering.  

He said the experience has been a great one so far because he’s been able to work alongside his best friends and they’re all excited to see where the project will take them next.  

“Communication was a challenge since we weren’t used to getting interviewed so much so that was something we had to improve on and we really did,” he said.  

When the team arrives at the competition this summer, they won’t know what challenge they’ll face until they are on the way to Wisconsin or after they arrive. 

From there, they’ll have just 48 hours to brainstorm, create a product, prepare a presentation and complete every step of the challenge.