Fatal Jackson Twp. fire inspires Junior Achievement students to start fire safety company

JACKSON TWP. ‒ No one in Jackson High School's Junior Achievement class knew any of the members of the Hawk family who died in a house fire in March.

But the memory of the tragedy that took the lives of Jeffrey Hawk, Talina Hawk and their two children, Ameila, 14, and Javen, 12, weighed on the minds of the eight class members when they started brainstorming ideas for the company they would form.

"The main reason we started thinking about fires was because in our own community we've had multiple house fires and even some families have lost their lives tragically," said senior Zachary Ferguson, chief financial officer of the company. "We wanted to bring awareness to that, so that people are prepared for something that they might think isn't a common event. Every 38 seconds, a house fire occurs somewhere. We want to help combat that and really help try and solve the problem."

After preliminary research to determine which items provide the most help in a fire, the class consulted with township Fire Chief Timothy G. Berczik and fire inspector Denny Tan in the fall.

"They gave us some feedback and input on that, as well as some additional items they would like to see in there," said junior Matt Smith, chief of marketing.

"They did 99.999% of the work," Berczik said. "These young kids, they did their research and they just confirmed their stuff with us."

Fire safety kits designed for home use

The result was FlameGuard, a firm with the slogan "Protect What Matters Most." It sells two fire safety kits.

The one-story kit has a fire extinguisher, fire blanket, smoke alarms, burn gel, fire gloves and a respirator mask. The two-story kit includes everything from the one-story kit plus a 13-foot fire escape ladder suitable for average two-story houses.

The two-story kit sells for $129.99 and the one-story kit, for $69.99. Items may also be purchased separately. Online sales are made through the FlameGuard website www.flameguard.us.

CEO Justin Lackey is concerned that some people may be turned off by the price.

"The way I look at it is like, 'Would you rather spend the money now and protect yourself or would you rather risk dying in a fire?'" said Lackey, a senior.

Members of the class encountered some typical business headaches early on. A shipment from a supplier who guaranteed 30-day delivery came in about twice that time, Miller said. The company's biggest seller, the fire blanket, was back-ordered for a time.

"It's one of the downsides of getting supplies from overseas," said teacher Shawn Donaldson. "You're really at the mercy of the logistics."

Sourcing the fire ladder presented another obstacle.

"We struggled for a long time to find a good fire ladder at a price that we could afford," Lackey said. "You'd be up late at night trying to talk to these people because, I mean, they're in China."

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Students do the deals, earn the experience

"That's kind of the cool thing about this class," Donaldson said. "They're the ones in charge of it. I really just help facilitate and help them troubleshoot and give them some ideas. They're the ones that set the mission and the target. They're the ones that make the phone calls, do the deals and make the mistakes, but also earn the experience."

Donaldson tested the ladder. He said it can hold 300 pounds.

Sales started in mid-November. The class took pre-orders at the Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus. They're looking for more opportunities to sell in person.

Junior Ben Sanders, who is in sales, said FlameGuard had sold five kits as of Jan. 5.

Fire blankets account for about $1,000 worth of sales, which total around $3,000, Ferguson said. He has noticed that a lot of people buy fire blankets as gifts for their children and grandchildren.

Lackey said the fire blanket can be used to smother a fire in a pan or on a person. It can be used as a protective covering for a person passing through flames.

Ferguson believes the company's profit margin is around 60%.

"We found a really good way with our suppliers to kind of cut the cost of what we're actually paying for the product," he said.

Buying inventory in bulk brought costs down, Donaldson said.

Class raises its own capital

But before all that could happen, the student-run company had to raise capital to buy inventory.

"They're responsible for coming up with their own investment money," Donaldson said. "The school doesn't give it to them."

Chief of Operations Joe Lattarulo, a senior, said class members solicited donations from local restaurants and other businesses to create raffle baskets each valued at $1,000. Class members initially sold tickets inside the school to students and staff, then branched out to selling at sporting events.

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"Parents would come up and buy three, four tickets, and that really helped us a lot. By the end, we had $6,500 to start with," Lattarulo said.

Junior Jack Lancy, director of sales, said the class realized during the fundraising phase that everyone would have to work hard to make the venture successful.

Other members of the class are sophomore Josh Walter, supply chain director, and senior Jayden Wooten, sales and marketing.

Business mentors for the class are Robert Garner and Katie Tolin, who are both business owners, volunteers and board members of Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio.

Tolin asked the class for the biggest lessons they had learned.

"I think that really the biggest problem that I have faced is just trying to kind of balance everything," Ferguson said. "This class, if you're doing it right, it should take a lot of extra time out of the class. And then, also having other classes. This is definitely a stressful experience in class because it's real money. I'm the CFO. I have to know where every single cent is. Balancing everything can be stressful."

Tolin has been involved with Junior Achievement since she ran a company for two years in high school. She finds excitement and motivation among the students.

"Who starts a company in three months? It's amazing," she said. "They come up with great ideas. They come up with their own logo designs. It's so inspiring to see what these kids can do."

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jackson High School Junior Achievement class starts FlameGuard