Graland Alumni Featured on Shark Tank
Watch ABC’s Shark Tank on April 22!
Denver, CO - Sloppy, melting ice cream cones were the inspiration for two boys who invented a cone accessory that keeps hands clean and spares wasted napkins.
What started as a school project at Graland for 10-year-olds Oliver Greenwald and Sam Nassif has led them to a spot on the popular ABC television show, Shark Tank, where they secured the coveted “home package.” Producers from the show came to Denver to film the students’ back story in January and they will be featured throughout the program.
Watch ABC’s Shark Tank on April 22!
Denver, CO - Sloppy, melting ice cream cones were the inspiration for two boys who invented a cone accessory that keeps hands clean and spares wasted napkins.
What started as a school project at Graland for 10-year-olds Oliver Greenwald and Sam Nassif has led them to a spot on the popular ABC television show, Shark Tank, where they secured the coveted “home package.” Producers from the show came to Denver to film the students’ back story in January and they will be featured throughout the program.
Their invention grew out of their participation in the Gates Invention and Innovation program, held each year for middle schoolers at Graland. Students are challenged to tinker, create and innovate in hopes of inventing a new product and possibly earning a U.S. patent.
It was 2012 and the boys were only fifth graders when their product, The Drip Drop, won second place and they were granted funding for their patent application process.
“Our coaches told us to keep our eyes open for everyday problems all around us,” said Nassif. "So we were walking past an ice cream shop and we saw these two little kids with sticky hands and messy clothes from their ice cream cones."
Greenwald added, "We then noticed how their mom used a handful of napkins to try to clean them up. This image stayed in our minds and a few minutes later suddenly we both turned to each other and had this light bulb moment: something should be done about that problem! And that’s how The Drip Drop started.”
Now freshmen at Kent Denver School, the boys own a U.S. patent for The Drip Drop and are set to appear on the April 22, 2016, episode of ABC’s Shark Tank.
They will pitch the product-- a tasty, edible ring that slides up onto the cone to catch ice cream drips-- to business tycoons with hopes of getting a “bite” and securing investment dollars. Their goal is to license the patented design to cone manufacturers.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
