South Haven News

By Claire Minor

On Mar. 24, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., The Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC) was held at Caldwell, KS. For those who don’t know, YEC is a free-entry competition eligible to 7-12 grade students that gives them the opportunity to learn how to operate, and most of the time create a successful business while also introducing them to connections that could help them later on down the road.

There is a cash prize awarded to the winners. First place gets $300, second place gets $200, and third place, I’m sure you could guess, gets $100. The Tradeshow was made up of four components each weighing 25% of the final results: The executive summary, the elevator pitch, the formal presentation, and the tradeshow. To dive deeper into those details you can check out this year’s competition here!

From South Haven there were four groups that attended. The Blooming Branch, with Blaine Carroll, Carley Russell, and Makenzie Callison, Simple Solutions, with Lyla Wiiest, Natalie Betzen, and Natalie Colwell, Sunny Shadows Skincare with Michelle Tevington, and DSK Automotive LLC with Cash Dvorak, Owen Strickland, and Lauren Kuchar.

The group, or business I should say, that is the focus for today is The Blooming Branch. As said before, the people that were in that business’ group were Makenzie Callison, Blaine Carroll, and Carley Russell. This business was actually made before YEC was even considered. The Blooming Branch was originally Carley’s Houseplants, founded by none other than Carley Russell, which is what inspired the three of them to do what they did for the competition. The Blooming Branch is a flower shop greenhouse combination where flowers, greenery, and custom arrangements are made. Their target customers are anyone in need of plants or florals. If someone has a special occasion such as a wedding, or maybe for those mourning a loss, The Blooming Branch is the one to call! 

Carley’s Houseplants started out as a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) for FFA, but she chose to continue doing it even though it wasn’t required. The product’s prices were determined by Russell. She already had them picked out from her own personal business, and just transferred most of them to the challenge. She said that she created the prices based off of the pots prices that the flowers were planted in, plus a little extra for guaranteed profit. If their product wasn’t selling, they all agreed that they would move locations and target audience, advertise better, along with Callison’s wise words of to “just do better.” Some mistakes that the group made during the challenge was overthinking and not having good research regarding their business’ information. If they could redo the challenge they would try to be more optimistic, have more energy, and incorporate more faux flowers. The passion behind this project for The Blooming Branch was the experience. They liked how Kanokla presented everything and there was food involved. Also, just a little shout out to Missy Russell as everyone in the group said that she was the one who helped them out the most. 

One of South Haven’s groups actually won and earned that first place position. So without further ado… Sunny Shadows Skincare with Michelle Tevington was awarded first place in the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge and is now a state qualifier! Her business is actually real too.

If you are interested in Sunny Shadows Skincare, the contact information is here!: Facebook: Sunny Shadows Skincare / Email: Sunnyshadowsskincare@gmail.com

If you would like to watch the practice elevator pitches you can here at South Haven School’s Youtube Page!: 

Simple Solutions: Watch Here!

The Blooming Branch: Watch Here!

Sunny Shadows Skincare: Watch Here!

REMINDER: If you would like to stay up-to-date with the events that South Haven Schools are involved with, check out USD509 South Haven on Facebook/Instagram or https://www.usd509.org/!