Dear Students,
River Valley High School (RVHS) is organising the #startathon Junior for students from Secondary
3, 4 and Junior College 1 (or their equivalents) in 2021!
Since 2016, RVHS has brought this startup “hackathon” competition to younger students from
secondary schools, integrated programme schools, specialised schools and junior colleges.
Below are details of the competition:
1 #startathon Junior is a two-day competition that aims to instigate creative thought in
entrepreneurship and value creation. Participants will apply their entrepreneurial skills and pit
their wits against other peers in this intense and exciting innovation nation-wide event organised
for young coders, dealers, makers, designers and emphatisers to rapidly ideate, prototype and
validate their business ideas.
2 This year’s theme is ‘Navigating the Pandemic’.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a generation-defining event with far-reaching implications. It is not
only the most severe public health emergency in recent history but also an economic and social
crisis of unparalleled proportions that is affecting every aspect of human life. Societies must
embrace a digital economy so that a semblance of normalcy can be restored and maintained in
uncertain situations in this age of global disruption.
Students are challenged to brainstorm and present their ideas (either a product or service)
empowering them to transform communities into thriving societies in uncertain times through
digital innovation.
3 Challenge domains based on the theme ‘Navigating the Pandemic’ will be released on the day of the event. Students will then generate an idea based on the domain assigned and bring that idea into reality and present it within the given 24-hour timeline. There is minimal prior preparation required on the part of the participants.
4 #startathon Junior emphasises on learning and actualisation. Every team will present convincingly their idea in a business plan and a prototype to allow an audience to visualise their ‘Navigating the Pandemic’ concept in a tangible manner. Students will create either a physical or digital prototype of their idea, with any material or tool accessible to them, e.g. art and craft materials, recycled materials, technical tools and equipment for traditional and digital fabrication, and digital design softwares. Expect actual technology practitioners who will work side by side with the team to bring the business idea and prototype to reality.
5 Details of event:
Dates : 20 Aug (Fri) 13:00 h – 21 Aug (Sat) 14:00 h
Platform : Zoom and / or other online communication & collaboration tools
Each school can send up to two teams of five members (maximum) each.
Maximum number of participants: 150 (registration will cease when reached first 30 groups)
There is no registration fee required.
Students can choose to work collaboratively as a team at school and / or from their homes.
6 Each team consists of members of five different roles with different learning specialisations: Role Coder Dealer Maker Designer Empathiser
Job Scope
The Coder makes use of open-source wares to code simple programs that would increase the functionality or create a working prototype of an IT product.
The Dealer makes sense of the product and find the value proposition to present to the judges through business plans or proposals.
The Maker brings the idea to life through rapid prototyping through various means of production from modern methods of 3D printing to traditional ways of drilling and sawing.
The Designe balances the aesthetic appeal of the product and the functionality of it. This includes making sure the
product looks decent for display and creating the best visualisation.
The Empathiser thinks from the perspectives of potential customers or even think of how the idea may benefit different
social groups (e.g. elderly, physically challenged, etc.).
7 Teams will market and pitch their business plans and prototypes to judges. Their ideas will be validated for their creativity, originality, practicality and level of impact. The rubric of assessment will be made available on the day of challenge.
8 Interested students can form their teams and emailed Mr Lam Hin Chew (lam_hin_chew@sst.edu.sg) latest by Friday 9 July 2021 1 p.m. The email should include the full name of all the students and their classes, the student who emailed Mr Lam will be taken as the leader of the team. As SST can send only two teams, it will be based on first come first serve basis.
Teams who are participating in the competition must be able to attend Monday I&E TDP sessions when called for. They will also have to do a reflection and attend a debrief.
9 More details of the competition will be shared by the organisers after registration.
10. The Champion team will stand to win up to S$1000. Other winning teams will also receive
attractive prizes, including book vouchers and various exciting category awards.
Thank you.
Mr Lam Hin Chew
Dean of Student Development