Paducah Tilghman High School junior Kiersa Atnip has been accepted to Kentucky Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs (GSE). GSE identifies and enables Kentucky high school students to become our Commonwealth's next generation of entrepreneurs.
Through the three-week residential experience, GSE participants are introduced to Kentucky's most successful entrepreneurs and fastest growing businesses. The students are equipped with tools and skills to create and build their own businesses, and matched with complementary skilled peers to develop business plans and product or service prototypes.
During the program, teams of high school students develop a business model, design a prototype and pitch their startup to a large audience and a panel of judges. GSE teaches the opportunities, benefits and pitfalls of taking a business concept from the idea phase to pitching it to potential investors. The program culminates in a pitch competition attended by a large audience representing Kentucky's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As a direct result of their participation in GSE, participants qualify for nearly $3 million in scholarships from Kentucky's universities and colleges. Nearly 500 young Kentuckians have graduated from GSE since the inception in 2013. The program is free of charge and open to high school students in grades nine through eleven. This year's sessions will be hosted by Northern Kentucky University.