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HoVal grads excel in TCNJ Mayo challenge
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Back-to-back nections. Shivaprasad is a CHS winners of business graduate. Golden Connections is conceived as an AI-powered health plan contest are wellness digital application HVCHS graduates and platform designed to address By JOe EMANsKi
Senior Jenna Powers takes a cut for Hopewell Valley softball.
‘Life-changing’ injury can’t stop how far would Bulldogs’ you go if theyPowers on the diamond were sick?
By Rich Fisher
called a “life-changing injury,” Jenna had a career average of Powers made sure the one thing .297 with six doubles, 40 RBI When Jenna Powers tells that would not change was her and 21 runs scored. She hit .361 people her tale, she seemingly ability to play softball. Beating as a sophomore and .302 as a turns into an alien. the odds and playing with a left senior but, in her case, statistics “They kind of look at me,” she arm two inches shorter than the are secondary. said, “like I have three eyes.” right, the Hopewell Valley CenJust the fact she played meant Actually, Powers does not tral High senior recently com- she batted 1.000. have an extra eye. But she does pleted a stellar four-year playing And when her family sat and to Capital Health. haveWelcome one less elbow joint. career with the Bulldogs. watched her perform, it always See POWERS, Page 12 Suffering what her surgeon As a first baseman/pitcher, When someone you care about is sick, you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get the best care. And so do we.
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Because you’d go to the ends of the earth for the people you care about. And we do too. Become a part of it today at CapitalHealth.org
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Every year, students at The College of New Jersey have the opportunity to take part in the Mayo Business Plan Competition, a contest named after retired Professor Herbert “Buddy” Mayo and held by the college’s School of Business. The intent of the competition is to inspire entrepreneurial spirit and introduce students to the challenges of developing a business. Participants in the contest are mentored through several rounds as they look to overcome all the challenges inherent in creating a viable business plan. TCNJ students come from all around the state and, indeed, the world. But for two years running, the competition’s winning team has included a graduate of Hopewell Valley Central High School. This March, senior Sangam Shivaprasad and her teammates, Lauren Cunningham and Emma Routé, took top honors with their business plan for a venture they have named Golden Con-
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the needs of seniors and caregivers. The app would feature an AI assistant that could help users with tasks and reminders and provide health and wellness insights based on speech biomarkers. One year earlier, the firstplace team in the competition was H.E.R., or Health Empowerment Reimagined, a collaboration of CHS grad Molly O’Brien and her teammate, Katie Olsen. Their business plan for H.E.R. outlines a women’s health and wellness app whose mission is to educate, inspire and transform the lives of young women with chronic health conditions. The app would be designed for women, taking into account the special health needs and challenges of living with CHCs. First-place winners receive a prize of $30,000, shared equally among winning team members. Second-place finishers get $20,000, and third place $10,000. “Sangam and I do not believe that both of us winning this esteemed competition, two years in a row, is a coincidence,” O’Brien told the Express. “We See MAYO, Page 11
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