Murray, Ky., April 25, 2024----Murray High School Emma Haynes, Sophia Spier, and Ellie Chetawatee (alternate) join 200 students selected for the 2024 Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs summer program.  Haynes, Spier and Chetawatee are the seventh Murray High School recipients to be selected for GSE and join Cora McConnel (2023), Ali Yarali (2023), Ella Bryant, (2022), and  Bron Bourque, (2018),  as Murray High School recipients.

A relative newcomer on the list of Kentucky’s Governor's Schools, GSE opened to its first group of students in 2013. The three-week residential immersion program brings high school students from across the state together and equips them with the tools needed to unleash their innate entrepreneurial spirits for the betterment of Kentucky. During the program, teams of students develop a business model, design a prototype, and pitch their startups to a panel of judges. GSE teaches the opportunities, benefits, and pitfalls of taking a business concept from the idea phase to pitching it to potential investors.

A highly competitive summer program where Kentucky high school students focus on product innovation and business model design, has announced the selection of 200 students from nearly 50 Kentucky counties for the 2024 program. Hundreds of high school students applied to be part of the GSE experience. Participants are selected through a competitive process that does not consider GPA or test scores, and the experience is free for all participants.  GSE’s uniquely designed application is structured to identify creative problem-solvers who want to roll up their sleeves and dive headfirst into creating something meaningful.

Alumni of GSE gain access to a host of scholarship opportunities, high school class credit, and a statewide network of life long entrepreneurial support. Since 2013, more than 500 student entrepreneurs have received scholarship funding through the program. For the first time in its 10-year history, GSE’s Summer Startup program will take place on two campuses. Thomas More University and the University of Kentucky each will host one three-week session in 2024. The first session is from June 16 to July 6, 2024, on its campus in Crestview Hills, located in the northern Kentucky region. The University of Kentucky session will run June 23 to July 13, 2024, at the Gatton College of Business and Economics in Lexington.

Haynes is the daughter of Adam Haynes, Danielle Klotz, Spier is the daughter of Timothy and Susan Spier , and Chetawatee is the daughter of Apichai and Mayuree Chetawatee, all of Murray.