Entrepreneur Wins “The Pitch” With Fraction Learning Tool
Cedarville University senior Jenna Stout won first place Feb. 6 at The Pitch for BrightPond Designs, earning $1,000. Her hands-on fraction visualization tools help middle school students and teachers make abstract concepts tangible through tactile learning.
Jenna Stout wants students to stop guessing at fractions and start seeing them. With a hands-on tool designed to help middle schoolers visualize math concepts, the Cedarville University senior won first place at the Pitch on Feb. 6, earning a $1,000 prize to further her business concept, BrightPond Designs.
BrightPond Designs Creates Hands-On Fraction Visualization Tools for Middle School Math
Stout, a senior industrial design major from Paw Paw, Michigan, earned the top prize after presenting a product line of physical fraction-visualization tools. The tools aim to help students grasp math concepts through hands-on learning, allowing them to interact with fractions in a tangible way.
“I was so grateful to hear my name as the winner of The Pitch,” said Stout. “It means a lot to know that an idea that is deeply personal to me also resonated with others. Winning helped turn this business idea into a reality."
For Stout, this is more than a product. It’s a tool born from the classrooms where she tutored and watched students struggle with abstract concepts that traditional methods failed to explain. She created it not only as an entrepreneur but also as an aspiring educator.
The Pitch is a “Shark Tank”-style entrepreneurial event hosted by Cedarville University’s Robert W. Plaster School of Business. This annual event provides students with the opportunity to present startup ideas, receive professional feedback and compete for cash prizes.
In addition to Stout’s first-place finish, second place went to Twin Sentries, a cybersecurity venture created by twin brothers John and Josiah Hardway, senior information technology majors from Atoka, Tennessee. Third place was awarded to Twin World, a recycling solution aimed at reducing fast-fashion waste by senior computer science major Rhoda Roby of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Winning Startup Idea Turns Fractions Into Tactile Classroom Learning Tools
Stout created BrightPond Designs to address the difficulties students and teachers face when fractions are being taught. By turning numerical ideas into tactile tools, the product line is designed to build understanding and confidence in the classroom and help educators reinforce lessons through visual interaction.
Future Plans: BrightPond Designs Expands Beyond Math to Music and Science Tools
Looking ahead, Stout plans to expand beyond middle school math to other subject areas, including music and science.
“Winning The Pitch opened doors I could only dream of before,” Stout said. “The prize money will allow me to pursue provisional patents, fund initial 3D-printed sets and attend homeschooling conventions and co-ops. More importantly, the relationships formed through this process are already helping guide the next steps for my business.”
Hands-On Fraction Tools Aim to Boost Student Confidence and Support Teachers
As BrightPond Designs moves forward, Stout hopes the tools will help more students approach fractions with confidence — and give teachers a practical way to make abstract concepts feel clear and approachable.
About Cedarville University
Cedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,265 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.