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West Cork students are advised to ‘Look to the Future' by LEO

December 12th, 2017 7:10 AM

By Southern Star Team

At the conference in Rosscarbery were students Sam Peare, Kinsale; Theresa O'Sullivan, MICC Dunmanway; Nicola O'Reilly, Skibbereen; Nicola O'Donoghue, Castletownbere, with Kevin Kennedy of Anú Dairy and Wendy Oke, TeachKloud. (Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision)

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A group of 300 transition year students from schools throughout West Cork were told not just to live for the weekend at a special enterprise conference. 

A GROUP of 300 transition year students from schools throughout West Cork were told not just to live for the weekend at a special enterprise conference. 

The “Look to the future” conference, hosted by the Local Enterprise Office, Cork West was held for students undertaking the West Cork Schools Enterprise Programme which sees them set up and run their own mini enterprises. Students were welcomed to the event in the Celtic Ross by Christine Heffernan, Business Adviser, Local Enterprise Office Cork North and West and addressed by a diverse line-up of speakers including Kevin Kennedy, Anú Dairy; Wendy Oke, TeachKloud; Nina Cáit Gilbert, Designbird.ie;nFiona and Gráinne Dwyer, StoriCreative and Jim Kennedy, Atlantic Sea Kayaking.

Kevin Kennedy, a citizen scientist, gym owner and co-founder Anú Dairy which has created the world’s first vitamin K2 butter told the students of his road to entrepreneurship which came about after years of travelling the world, learning Kung Fu in China to K2 butter in Kinsale. 

He told the students that if they are creative they can go on an exciting journey and have the ability to change the world. 

Wendy Oke of TeachKloud (a cloud-based childcare and pre-school online management system) also told the students not to live for the weekend, to love what they do and have belief in themselves.

The Student Enterprise programme has been in existence since 2004 with schools from West Cork gaining national recognition for their projects in the past. 

Throughout the programme, students are exposed to all the realities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs in every stage of business development from market research and production to sales and marketing.

 Each of  the 10 West Cork schools will compete with their mini enterprises in the regional finals next March for a place at the National Finals in Croke Park in May.

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