A visit from Scott Millar is always a highlight for students in the Far North. Scott's engagement with the students through entrepreneurial challenges provides students the opportunity to consider new products and markets. Even the BLA staff got to catch up this visit.
The content was very thought provoking. Scott had a very short timeframe at our school due to our schools’ timetable (only 55 mins) so we were not able to gain as much from his presentation as other schools may have.
Scott is most welcome to return to our school at any time as he is such an energetic and passionate presenter.
Dimbulah P-10 State School
Scott Millar with Cairns State High School Students
On Wednesday the 5th of May, Scott Millar from BOP Industries visited our school. Twenty seven students from years 7 through to 10, and four teachers attended Scott’s presentation. Scott refers to himself as the ‘Chief Trouble Maker’ for his company. He started his company at 14 years of age while at school when he began making key rings. His company then began creating holograms. Listening to Scott’s story was very inspiring. He managed to create a very successful business, regardless of only being a school student. He showed us that as students we can do anything. Scott stepped us through the process to create our own small business, and we were pleasantly surprised by the high quality of work we were able to produce in such a short time. As a school we were appreciative of the chance to listen and learn from Scott. Many thanks to the BLA for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity.
Herberton State School P-10 Secondary Campus Students
On the 6th of May 2021, 36 students and 3 teachers from the Tropical North Learning Academy Smithfield State High School students were extremely fortunate to spend the morning with inspirational young entrepreneur Scott Millar from BOP Industries. These students included a mix from our specialised Year 7and 8 Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow and Year 9 and 10 Money and Entrepreneur Studies elective classes. His visit was extremely timely as these students had just begun their entrepreneur journeys and were creating draft agile plans based on products they had created to solve problems within the industries they were passionate about.
The morning began with Scott sharing his inspirational story of his own entrepreneurial journey and the personal qualities he relied on to have success. He also shared his failures along the way and how he overcame these to find success. Scott then shared the success of several of the products he developed and how he marketed these to his target audience.
Scott was keen to see the skills of our students by setting them an entrepreneurial challenge. Students were given a target audience based on certain demographics and then asked them to develop a new product or service using the Research Method. Students had to develop a pitch for the product that included a marketing campaign. The students were eager to show Scott their entrepreneurial skills and developed some fantastic ideas with the amazing support from Scott. The morning was an incredible learning experience for both the students and teachers and Scott is an amazing and inspirational young leader. Quotes from some of the students included:
“Scott is awesome and he has shown me that I can achieve anything if I persevere and believe in myself”.
“I have learnt so much from Scott about being a successful entrepreneur and he is a real role model”
This is an exceptional learning experience and one the Tropical North Learning Academy Smithfield State High School will support in the future. We would like to thank the Business Liaison Association and Mrs Angela Toppin for organising this wonderful learning experience that has positively influenced the lives and futures of our students.
Kind Regards
Dan Kaggelis
Head of Department
Humanities & Sustainability
Students at Smithfield State High School working with Scott Millar
Trinity Bay State High School Students pictured with Scott Millar