This was the first year Mr. Standley wanted to do a shark tank to make sure students had their i2 projects all thought out by the end of November. A few days before we were set to present to our sharks, Madi and I polished off the rest of our presentation slides. We had our main focus question, along with the process we would attempt to follow as we moved through the year. To prepare for the sharks’ possible questions, we planned out the first few phases of our project, conducted research, and developed our own LucidChart diagram, organizing our thoughts. In addition to the proposal, Madi and I had also collected survey data from the SHC population to see whether the students were sleep deprived; turns out, a majority of the population is! Since each individual spends at least 6 to 13 hours at school a day, that’s a problem.
Shark Tank Reflection
“When Mr. Standley asked for volunteers to present, I remember Morgan raising her hand, and my palms immediately began to sweat. I had already done the math. There were so many people at the shark tank that Morgan and I had less than a 50% chance of actually having to present. Even as a sophomore, I was still nervous about public speaking, and my anxiety shot through the roof as I saw Morgan raise her hand in the corner of my eye, raising that less than 50% chance of presenting to 100%. I looked around the room for anyone to potentially help the situation, but to no avail. I shakily stood up and remembered slowly making my way to the front of the room, where the sharks were waiting. Honestly, the presentation went well, or “well” according to my friends. I may have zoned out while presenting. Some of the questions the sharks posed were very helpful in figuring out the structure of our project. We would need to make sure we had space available for these nap zones, and be able to keep them clean. In order to have more permanent nap zones, Morgan and I would have to construct a survey to later convince the deans that nap zones would be a long term benefit to our school.” -Madison Lee ‘25
“The day of the Shark Tank was approaching faster than I had anticipated, but I knew we prepared well for the date: November 29, 2022. Sitting in the choir room with a few of my freshman i2 classmates, my heart was undeniably racing, as my sister and I agreed prior to presenting our project as soon as possible. Once the first presentation finished, Mr. Standley called for volunteers, and my hand shot up like lightning. As I looked over to my sister, sitting with her sophomore i2 classmates, she seemed very shocked, hesitant to walk to the front of the room, while I sauntered down the steps, preparing the slideshow…”
“…The presentation blew by quickly. Once it was over, I couldn’t remember a thing. The sharks congratulated us, so I knew that must’ve been a good sign. After leaving the choir room that evening, we anxiously awaited the sharks’ ultimate response…” -Morgan Lee ‘26