CCSD Students Advance in Entrepreneurial Training Program, Competition

The first-ever class of Cherokee County School District finalists has been named for a new program focused on developing future entrepreneurs!

Georgia FLEX (Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneurial eXperience) is a statewide initiative offered locally for the first time this school year through a partnership between the school district, Cherokee Office of Economic Development, and local businesses and industries.  Congratulations to CCSD’s finalists and thank you to our School Board for its laser focus on ensuring our students are learning more, growing more, and achieving more in our classrooms than they could anywhere else!

Through the program, high school students, individually or as teams, pitch ideas to launch real businesses.  Ten finalist companies selected based on their business plans then launch their concepts with the support of teacher advisors from their school, mentors from local businesses, and seed money from the program.  Over 12 weeks of operating their businesses, the finalists receive additional training through workshops and then make a “Shark Tank”-style pitch to a panel of judges.  The top three teams refine their businesses for another five weeks, and, through another judging panel event, an overall winner is selected to advance to the state competition for the opportunity to earn a $10,000 prize.

CCSD 2025-26 FLEX Finalists
Jake Cerna of Woodstock HS, owner of By Faith clothing; teacher advisor, Ansley Allen
Arcadian Freund of Etowah HS, owner of TechEase, a safe technology consulting company; teacher advisor, David Armistead 
Carter Hutchison of Creekview HS and Gavin Letendre of Etowah HS, owners of Weightex Clothing; teacher advisor, Theresa Brown
Annabell Meyer of River Ridge HS, owner of Aspire Great Media, a social media content creation and management company; teacher advisor, Krista Duke
Samuel Mullins of Etowah HS, owner of Walletwise Automotive mobile automotive repair; teacher advisor, Shannah Dean 
Abhi Pulleti of Sequoyah HS, owner of Handy Hero online booking for home services company; teacher advisor, Joe Hulen
Sarah Robles of Etowah HS, owner of Sarah J. Events event coordination and planning; teacher advisor, Claudia Larrotta
Javen Simmons of Etowah HS, owner of Vision Studioz clothing; teacher advisor, Lee Coker 
Karl Smith of Creekview HS, owner of Gardn garden technology device company; teacher advisor, William Ragsdale 
Cole Abney, Maddox Grummer, and Ryan Wexler of Sequoyah HS, owners of CMR Captures photography and videography; advisor, Assistant Principal Jason Meade

The finalists and their teacher advisors will be recognized by the Cherokee County School Board and Superintendent of Schools at an upcoming School Board meeting.
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