Valley Students Cook Up Pizza Concepts for JA Innovation Challenge

CHAMPION, Ohio – Liberty Middle School sixth grader Daniel Mohler wanted bacon to top his team’s pizza. But Ariayah Lawrence wanted a healthier option.

The two, along with teammates Penny Mauser and Sergio Gonzalez, settled on turkey bacon and mozzarella cheese stuffed in the crust, with more turkey bacon on the pie.

“We wanted something different,” Daniel explained of their pizza concept. What they developed is something none of them had ever heard of.

The Liberty team was among about 100 students from four school districts participating in Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio’s JA Innovation Challenge at Kent State University at Trumbull on Friday. Teams from Lakeview, Jackson-Milton, Liberty and Brookfield participated.

The student teams of three to five worked together to develop their pizza concepts, and the winning team from each room was selected to pitch their creation to Pizza Joe’s. Company representatives chose Lakeview Team 2 and its Ballpark Special pizza as the winner.

The winning team was composed of students Collin Lee, Tyler Bowman, Eyan Riedel, Jaxon Curd and Carter Hartman. They will work with Pizza Joe’s to test their creation to develop a final product, and the pizza will be featured at the Cortland Pizza Joe’s location. The date will be determined soon. 

Second place went to Lakeview Team 1, consisting of students Rachel Stowe, Landen Shanower, Brooke Steele, Luca DeJulio and Vicki DiLallo, for The Elephant Extreme pizza.

Brookfield Team 5, consisting of students Iris Mason, Zoey Stroup, Briston Malcomson and Aiden Bathory, placed third with The Alfredo pizza.

Michele Merkel, president of JA of Eastern Ohio, said the students learn to work together and to use their creativity as well as the phases of product development, including cost considerations.

“We introduce them to their investor, which is Pizza Joe’s,” Merkel said.

They brainstorm different toppings, doughs and sauces and share their thoughts with their classmates to gather their feedback. They also go through product development and marketing and advertising, and pitch their ideas. 

“We thought pizza is relatable – kids love pizza,” Merkel said. 

Katie Seminara-DeToro of Classi-Co Foods/Pizza Joe’s said the JA Innovation Challenge aligns with some of the company’s core values, including entrepreneurship in young people.

Students’ pizza concepts run the gamut, she said. A few years ago though, a pizza, the Bulldog Philly Steak, was a hit. 

“We actually took it to the Mahoning Valley Pizza Cookoff and won with it,” Seminara-DeToro said.

Sweet pizzas and pizzas with spicy toppings are popular too, she said.

“We try to tell them, be as creative as you want to,” Seminara-DeToro said.

She enjoys the event along with the students.

“I think it’s just a fun, reenergizing thing for us,” Seminara-DeToro said. “When we’re inside of our business day in and day out, sometimes we forget how much fun pizza is and how much kids love pizza. It’s just good to see the enthusiasm.”

Pizza Joe’s also gets ideas from the students, Seminara-DeToro said. 

“It’s a tough market, especially high school-aged kids,” she said. “We don’t just compete with just pizza anymore. We compete with everyone in the fast-casual industry.” 

The final product will be featured on the menu of the Pizza Joe’s closest to the winning school. Pizza Joe’s will also host a community day, with JA promoting that the student-developed pizza will be available. Pizza Joe’s donates a portion of its proceeds from the community day to the school.

JA has a similar contest later this month at Conneaut School District in Ashtabula County. For that contest, students will develop Blizzard concepts for Dairy Queen.

The event started several years ago but moved online during Covid. This year marks the first year it returned to an in-person format.

The Liberty sixth graders compromised among each other before finalizing the concept of their pie. Penny said they needed to consider costs and the price of their pizza. That’s how they narrowed down their list of toppings

“I think we’re at a good cost right now,” she said. “I think we should not change that.”

Their price is $14.99. It stays within the range suggested for the contest, Penny said.

“The profit we get is 10 to 20% of the normal price,” Ariyah added.

Pictured at top: Michele Merkel, president of Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio, works with Jackson-Milton Elementary School fifth graders Elizabeth Handwork, Cora Dean, Sofia Fortsch, Isabella Weaver and Payton Jackson at the JA Innovation Challenge at Kent State University at Trumbull.

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