The Day My Students ‘Partnered’ with Smucker’s

Previously, I shared the five ingredients I think make classroom experiences unforgettable:

hook, ownership, stakes, struggle, and payoff.

My​ Shark Tank experience ​has all five—but I didn’t design it by checking boxes on a list. I designed it by asking one question:

“How can I make this experience matter to kids?”

Let me tell you about one student who answered that question for me.

Introducing… Smuckabutter.

A couple of years ago, one of my eighth graders identified what he considered a serious problem: soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

During his Shark Tank pitch, he slapped a soggy Uncrustable—one that had been sitting in his backpack for days—onto the investors’ table.

He had their attention. 😂

His solution?

Smuckabutter: a spread that tastes like jelly but has the consistency of butter, eliminating the dreaded soggy sandwich forever.

There was just one problem.

I wouldn’t let him use the name Smucker’s without permission.

And while most kids would’ve shrugged and picked a new name…

This future entrepreneur did not.

He spent nearly an hour on hold with Smucker’s corporate office instead, eager to secure a partnership.

And despite the initial confusion of the poor girl on the phone, they eventually agreed.

(Well…they gave him permission to use their name provided it was only for his middle school Shark Tank project and no real money changed hands. 😂)

That’s when I realized this project had become something more than an assignment.

No rubric required that phone call.

No grade depended on it.

He did it because he believed in his idea enough to treat it like a real business.

That’s the power of ownership.

When students stop working for us and start working for themselves, they’ll often exceed every expectation we have for them.

And that’s exactly what happened.

A 14-year-old secured a fictional partnership from a multinational corporation.

A middle school project became important enough for a student to spend an hour on hold with a corporate office.

And in the end?

Smuckabutter struck a deal.

Looking back, I can see all five ingredients at work.

Ownership led a student to spend an hour on hold with a corporate office.

The upcoming pitch created stakes.

Securing permission from Smucker’s became part of the struggle.

And when Smuckabutter struck a deal with the sharks, the payoff felt real.

But perhaps my favorite part is what happens next.

Every year, stories like these become the hook for future students.

“A kid from this classroom actually got a ‘partnership’ with Smucker’s?”

Yup.

Suddenly, the next group starts wondering what they are capable of accomplishing.

And that’s what I’m really chasing when I design classroom experiences.

Not compliance.

Not reluctant participation.

Not even engagement.

Real investment.