This spring, Upper School Ravens interested in entrepreneurship and business enjoyed two opportunities to learn about and use the insights, skills and practices that will help make them successful: the mentorship exchange program with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship and competition at North Carolina DECA’s statewide competition. Read on for details.

Shuford Mentorship Program Spring 2025

Building on an innovative partnership between Ravenscroft and the UNC-CH Shuford program now in its third year, the mentorship exchange gives members of the junior class several opportunities to learn from program staff and student participants — including some Ravens alumni — and put their learning to good use. 

Following a workshop in the fall in which juniors were introduced to some of the key concepts of the Shuford program, such as personal branding, 10 juniors were selected to participate in the spring’s programming at UNC. 

“The program introduces skills and tools essential in startup and firm growth, such as user identification, empathy interviews and ideation,” Director of Library Services Angela Finn, one of the program’s Ravenscroft facilitators, said. “These students also participated in a Design Sprint — a focused process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping and testing — to understand customer needs in the market. Additionally, students developed personal-branding materials, including a logo, resume and LinkedIn page.”

Participants also attended two Shuford courses through the program: Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Practicum in Entrepreneurship, during which the “Shark Tank”-winning entrepreneur Rachel Graham spoke.

On March 4, students presented their capstone projects of prototypes that address real-world challenges. Projects included a travel app, relocation assistance for families, sustainable markers, innovative luggage solutions and foot dryers. The students gained valuable experience in product development and received positive feedback on their innovative projects.

Congratulations to the 2025 program participants:

• Briana Krafft ’26
• Grace Garney ’26 
• Linh Tran ’26 
• Margaret Zaytoun ’26 
• Thor Vilsoee ’26 
• Sammey Malik ’26
• Nikki Gupta ’26 
• Nathaniel Gmitter ’26 
• Matthew Madewell ’26
• Grant Hildreth ’26 

Read more about this program in the May 2024 feature “Juniors Activate Lead From Here With UNC Mentorship Exchange.”

N.C. DECA Statewide Competition

DECA — new to Ravenscroft this year — brought together nearly two dozen Upper School Ravens with an interest in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. The club, whose advisors are Upper School World Language Department teachers Stevie Vaughn and Jim Martin (who also teaches the elective District C: Entrepreneurial Problem Solving), prepares students to take their places as business leaders and entrepreneurs through a comprehensive program that focuses on innovation, integrity and teamwork. 

The group came about through the hard work of two seniors, Andy Vitello ’25 and Victor Qi ’25, who approached Martin about starting a DECA club at Ravenscroft. Twenty-two Upper School Ravens took up the challenge to prepare themselves for the rigorous framework of DECA competitions.

Participants then attended the statewide competition in Greensboro Feb. 27-March 1 and made their mark — despite this being the school’s first year of involvement.

“Students competed in scenarios focusing on entrepreneurship, marketing and business management. The vast majority of our students won proficiency pins, which was really impressive for our first year,” Martin explained. “We also had three students with exemplary performances: Andy Vitello ’25 and Briana Krafft ’26 won distinguished awards for excellence in role-plays, and Austin Greene ’25 won an award for overall cumulative performance in his tests and role-plays. Austin now will move on to the DECA International Career Development Conference in April.”

Congratulations to the 2025 program participants:

• Aradhana Babu ’27
• Katie Barger ’26
• Alexander Ferretti ’27
• Léyana Glaspie ’27
• Eleanor Gottsegen ’27
• Austin Greene ’25
• Harper Harrell ’27
• Kayla Hu ’27
• Briana Krafft ’26
• Claudia Lloyd ’27
• Valerie Margraf ’26
• Leven McConahay ’25
• Taylor McMichael ’26
• Cate Mills ’26
• Sarai O’Quinn ’27
• Avery Perry ’26
• Victor Qi ’25
• Madison Rankin ’27
• Logan Smith ’26
• Sais Smith ’27
• Anna Stone ’26
• Andy Vitello ’25