Youth Stories

How a car crash after football practice flipped this top recruit from student athlete to founder

“If I’m going to go through something that traumatic, something good should come out of it,” said Zaydan Ahmed, a Pembroke Hill graduate who built a wearable stress management device after an epileptic seizure caused his car crash.

Teens match athletic enthusiasm with entrepreneur mindset to monetize KC sports scene

As young athletes look to monetize their teen sports experiences, two entrepreneurs see openings to turn their passions into businesses.

Free kicks with Great Jobs KC: Students develop 3D-printed soccer tee amid World Cup

“We got the idea from rugby kicking tees,” said Campbell Higgins, a UMKC student participating in the Great Jobs KC program. “We looked at that and asked, ‘How can we improve on it for free kicks?'”

UMKC student-staff duo hopes to scale hydroponic lettuce from ‘six-by-six footprint’ to food insecurity solution

A $730,000 multi-university initiative is helping researchers rethink how food is produced and delivered to improve access to fresh produce across region.

No height limit for entrepreneurship: Kansas nonprofit boosts children’s business literacy

“We look at every child as a leader right now,” said Leah Ellis, founder of The Society of Child Entrepreneurs, “and ask them what they want to see happening in their community today, rather than kicking the can down the road until they’re older or taller.”