Winchester student wins national entrepreneurship workshop

Winchester resident and Acera School student Parmis Mokhtari-Dizaji led a team of young entrepreneurs to a first-place finish in Camp BizSmart’s 2018 North American Entrepreneurship Workshop. During the 10-day workshop, students ages 11-15 worked in teams mentored by industry experts to solve actual business problems facing Silicon Valley companies. On the camp’s final day, the aspiring entrepreneurs presented and defended their solutions before a panel of venture capital and angel investors at Microsoft and other premiere companies.

The winning team, which appointed Parmis its CEO, developed rain-collecting water filters called Aquaflo. The product was designed to take rainwater from the roof, filter it through an ion exchange and carbon filter, and connect it to the plumbing for use in bathrooms, kitchens, and gardens.

“We wanted to make a water filter because over 5 million people die every year from contaminated water, and another 20 percent of the world do not have easy access to clean water,” said Parmis. “The goal is for everybody to have clean water for drinking and everyday needs.”

Parmis is a middle school student at Acera, a Winchester-based non-profit STEM/STEAM school serving high-ability students in grades K-8. Its mission is to inspire children to become the problem solvers, innovators, creative thinkers, and leaders of tomorrow.

“The inspiring ‘learning without limits’ environment at Acera has helped Parmis develop the skills and tools that she utilized during her time at this camp,” added Parmis’ mother, Nasim Maleki. “These are skills that she will keep for life.”

Founded in 2009 by Winchester resident Courtney Dickinson, Acera engages students in individualized, inquiry-based learning that is designed around their passions and aligned with their own abilities. The school’s approach encourages children to think in broad new ways about the challenges they see and apply core capacities, such as systems thinking and perspective taking, to real-world problems.

In addition to K-8 education, Acera offers daily after-school enrichment programs as well as February, April, and summer vacation camps. For more information, visit aceraschool.org.