LANSING, Mich.— Ken Turner, an instruction and technology coach at Ingham ISD was named the first-place winner of the Michigan EdTech Innovation Pitch Contest during a live online pitch competition today for his startup, unscriptED. Turner will receive $10,000 in business startup grant funding, along with startup legal consultation provided through a donation from FosterSwift, and creative support from Design Harmony. 

UnscriptED is a library of live, whole-class classroom simulations that drop students into historical and real-world roles to bring the curriculum to life. Turner cultivates opportunities for students and teachers to practice what they’re learning with relevant characters, assigned roles, opportunities for students to create and connect lessons to real-life scenarios, and for educators to convey concepts more effectively. 

Throughout the competition, five finalists competed for a share of $22,000 in business startup grants, presenting their EdTech solutions to a panel of judges. The finalists were chosen out of a record pool of more than 35 participants in the EdTech Innovation Bootcamp, which ran June 22-25 and is in its fifth year. 

“This is the fifth year of the EdTech Innovation Bootcamp, and our largest year to date. The competition continues to deepen, and our participants are meeting the moment year after year,” said Jamey Fitzpatrick, President and CEO at Michigan Virtual. “I’m inspired by the vision these educators bring each year, and the challenges they’re moved to solve when shaping the future of learning.” 

“I’m so grateful that I was able to participate in this competition,” said Ken Turner. “I just want to make school awesome for students, and I hope this helps to do that. Learning should be fun so students can succeed.” 

Sarah Pilarski, a county-level school counselor and career readiness consultant, founded Elevate-Ed and placed second, earning $6,000 in grant funding. David Baker, an educator with Ingham ISD’s Wilson Talent Center, founded Fiscal Path and placed third, receiving $4,000. Both second- and third-place winners will also receive startup legal consultation from FosterSwift. 

“There are two things we saw this year. One was the big picture opportunity that each of these competitors tackled very differently,” said David Byron, President of Design Harmony and a judge of the competition. “These competitors addressed a need that should be solved. But we also took the opportunity to critique how well each designed idea has addressed that concern to this point.” 

Fourth- and fifth-place finalists Amber Trishawna Merriweather, an educator in Detroit Public Schools who founded Scholapass, and Jason Raddatz, an educator with Marshall Public Schools who founded NOVA+, each received $1,000 in grant funding. 

The finalists and their winning programs include: 

• Amber Trishawna Merriweather is a doctoral candidate and K-12 educator with Detroit Public Schools Community District. She is also the founder of Scholapass, a free platform that gives transitioning students the hidden playbook for surviving and thriving in high school. 

• Ken Turner is an instruction and technology coach at Ingham ISD and the founder of unscriptED, a library of live, whole-class classroom simulations that drop students into historical and real-world roles to bring the curriculum to life.

• Jason Raddatz is a STEM educator with Marshall Public Schools and the founder of NOVA+, an AI-powered instructional continuity platform that helps K-12 students catch back up after an absence and reach mastery. 

• Sarah Pilarski, Ed.S, is a county-level school counselor and career readiness consultant as well as the co-founder of Elevate-Ed, a mobile and web-based platform that supports new educator onboarding through a structured framework and connects mentees directly with their mentors.

• David Baker, a Programming and Mobile Applications Instructor at Ingham ISD’s Wilson Talent Center, is the founder of Fiscal Path, a personal finance simulator that helps students develop sound financial practices.  

Headshots of the finalists can be found here. 

Winners were chosen during the online live pitch competition, which can be viewed here. 

Since its inception, the Michigan Virtual EdTech Innovation Bootcamp and pitch contest have awarded more than $122,000 in startup grants, funded by partners and sponsors, to more than 30 edtech startups. With more than 100 participants who have received entrepreneurial and innovation training, these events serve as a pipeline for educators working to improve the lives of students and families, helping them bring their solutions from the idea stage to scale. Winners from the competition have gone on to scale their solutions and grow their businesses to support student learning, safety, and engagement beyond the classroom and into their communities. 

In 2025, the first-place prize went to Martha Ann (Annie) Hebel from Sparktivity, earning $10,000 in startup grant funding, plus marketing and legal support. Sparktivity is a creativity app designed for K–12 classrooms that helps students strengthen divergent thinking and provides teachers with tools to assess and track creative development.

To learn more about the contest, visit www.michiganvirtual.org/edtech-catalyst.