West Mifflin grad hits winning shot with program
Classrooms in the West Mifflin and Steel Valley school districts transform into mini “Shark Tanks” when Ryan Maha and Blake Chasen enter the building.
Students in grades 9-12 listen intently as the two teach the nuances of becoming a business owner in their 2year-old initiative, “Empowering Entrepreneurs.”
Maha is a West Mifflin graduate and junior basketball player at Carnegie Mellon University; Chasen, of Chevy Chase, Md., is a former CMU team captain and recent grad.
You might call them the “Mr. Wonderfuls” of the Mon Valley.
“It’s refreshing to see someone from this community gaining insights at a great institution, then giving back to the students here,” said Brian Aufman, a teacher in West Mifflin’s gifted program. “A lot of these kids wouldn’t get that opportunity otherwise.”
Maha and Chasen’s sixmonth program starts with students, split into groups of 46, identifying a perceived problem. They then work diligently to create a solution, often consulting with the duo along the way.
The final phase is a presentation to a panel similar to what viewers see on the popular ABC series, “Shark Tank.”
“That’s the coolest part,” said Maha, a junior guard at CMU who ranked second on the team in scoring last season at 12.3 points per game. “The kids make 5- to 7-minute power-point slide presentations and pitch their company. It’s really enjoyable to see them presenting.”
One idea that captured the attention of “sharks” Maha, Chasen, West Mifflin superintendent Dan Castagna and vice principal Robert Campana last year was a suggested smart phone app designed to track the location of school buses.
This would alleviate the issue of waiting outside, particularly on cold Pittsburgh mornings, with no certainty when the bus might arrive. And for those running late, the app would indicate if the bus had gone.
A former classmate of Maha’s at West Mifflin is currently working with the students to make the app operational.
“There’s something similar in Indianapolis, but the kids didn’t know that when they presented it to us; it was their idea,” said Maha, who’s in discussions with local venture capitalists to sit on future “Shark Tank” panels and, potentially, invest in students.
The inspiration for “Empowering Entrepreneurs” came to Chasen during his junior year at CMU. He brought it up to Maha, then a freshman, and learned that the latter had been wrestling with the same idea with a focus on the Mon Valley, where he could give back to his hometown.
The two looked around the CMU campus at many of the brightest young minds in the world and thought to themselves: Why not Mon Valley students? Why can’t they achieve similar academic success? From there, Maha and Chasen went to work. They secured funding for the program through government grants. Then the two got clearance to introduce the program to freshmen at West Mifflin High School. Steel Valley was added this fall, along with other local schools using variations of their program.
The plan is to scale the program throughout the area and, ultimately, nationwide. And its reach could go beyond schools.
Maha, whose father teaches social studies and coaches the West Mifflin basketball team, is attempting to secure funding to implement the program at the Allegheny County Jail. He believes its potential is limitless.
“Not enough people are exposed to the word, ‘entrepreneurship,’” said Maha, a dual major in business administration and policy and management. “If you think of schools like West Mifflin and others in the Mon Valley and throughout Pittsburgh, the entrepreneurial idea isn’t stressed. I’m fortunate enough to attend a university with elite students. The kids here are awesome and amazing, but so are the kids from where I come from. Just because they didn’t go to an elite private school or study internationally, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be successful.”
Maha paused, before adding ...
“We’re there to stress to them that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your race is or whether you’re a boy or a girl,” he said. “You have to have that drive and work ethic.”
An example of the program making an impact manifested itself last year. A reserved freshman named Allie was especially quiet during the first class. But as she got a feel for Maha’s and Chasen’s personalities, a slight smile ran across her face. Then a giggle. Then a hearty laugh.
She clearly found common ground with two young men just a few years older than her.
“The kids can joke with us, and we do it back,” Maha said. “It’s easier for us to relate sometimes than, maybe, a teacher in his or her 50s.”
By the next session, Allie was vocal and deeply involved. Most important, she embraced the idea of being an entrepreneur.
“She was so into it that she got her first presentation finished, then asked if she could do another one,” said Chasen, who recently moved to New York City for a position with a financial technology start-up company.
Chasen said he plans to work with Maha on scaling the program once the latter graduates from CMU. Referring to education as his primary love, Chasen believes “Empowering Entrepreneurs” has just scratched the surface.
“When I graduated, I didn’t have a choice but to accept a job — and I love where I am,” Chasen said. “But I did not take this job in New York to forget about what my passions and dreams are. I intend to be right there with Ryan to make this a national program.”