Flashback to fourth-grade, Bhavika was set on opening her own cupcake business with her best friend. Her passion and excitement for entrepreneurship was sparked by an American Girl book, A Smart Girl’s Guide: Money. Although she isn’t fixed on owning a cupcake business anymore, Bhavika is still interested in pursuing a future career in the business field.
ABOUT
R.I.S.E.
The R.I.S.E. Initiative was founded on September 5th, 2019 by three high school juniors -- Shreya Chordiya, Tanvi Poondota, and Bhavika Yendapalli -- from Cary, North Carolina. These three 16 year olds sought to instill the same passion in young students through the R.I.S.E. Initiative. The team noticed the lack of business curriculum taught in elementary and middle schools. In order to address this, the R.I.S.E. Team created workshops that they could teach in schools in order to instill a sense of entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance early on. Students will be aware of business-related careers early on and possibly consider pursuing one in the future.
MEET THE TEAM
R.I.S.E. Entrepreneurship & Marketing
Shreya Chordiya
Co-Founder of R.I.S.E. & Lead Instructor of RISE E & M
“Hi everyone! My name is Shreya Chordiya and I am a rising senior at Panther Creek High School. Some of my hobbies include hiking with my family, dancing, and traveling. I love going on adventures, trying new foods, and learning about different cultures. I also love working with kids! After high school, I plan on going on the pre-med track and pursuing a career in pediatric surgery. I am so excited to have you all join our R.I.S.E. family!"
Tanvi Poondota
Co-Founder of R.I.S.E. & Lead Instructor of RISE E & M
“Hey! My name is Tanvi and I am a rising senior at Panther Creek High School. I love to spend time with my family and friends in my free time, especially going out for food or coffee. I’m interested in pursuing biomedical engineering and computer science after high school. I can’t wait to work with so many more students this year!”
Bhavika Yendapalli
Co-Founder of R.I.S.E. & Lead Instructor of RISE E & M
“Hi there! My name is Bhavika and I am a rising senior at Panther Creek. In my free time, I love working out or trying new recipes. In the future, I am interested in pursuing marketing with sustainable or international business. I am so excited to offer these workshops to local students and share the same passion for business that I have!”
R.I.S.E. Finance
Khushi Amin
Lead Instructor for RISE Finance
Tharani Senthilkumar
Lead Instructor for RISE Finance
“Hey! I'm Khushi and I'm a junior at Panther Creek this year. Some of my favorite things to do in my free time are spending time with friends and family, playing my flute, and baking. In the future, I plan on pursuing a career in business.”
"Hi I'm Tharani! I'm a junior at Panther Creek. Some things I like to do in my free time are go on bike rides, spending time with friends and family, and painting. in the future, I plan on pursuing a career in business."
Accomplishments
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The 2019 Programs reached over 200 students
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Students demonstrated higher than 10% growth on assessments
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95.1% of all students expressed satisfaction with the programs
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96.4% of all students recommended the program to future students
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All affiliated teachers were satisfied with the outcome of the workshops
R.I.S.E. 2019
Our first year
The 2019 R.I.S.E. Elementary and Middle Programs were held in November - December of 2019. The team conducted workshops at Mills Park Elementary with a 5th grade AIG class and at Mills Park Middle School with a 6th grade digital literacy class. High school workshops were also conducted at Panther Creek High school with students in Career and Technical Education classes.
Awards
In February of 2020, the R.I.S.E. team competed in the North Carolina DECA Career Development State Conference. The team prepared and presented a 30-page report regarding the planning and outcome of the initiative’s mission, in front of judges. The team won 3rd place in the Career Development Project Management Event, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference.