The Dr. Sands Entrepreneurial Mindset Award is given to the student or team whose project exemplifies all four entrepreneurial pillars: Resiliency, Opportunity Seeking, Resourcefulness, and Creativity. This prize also honors outstanding commitment and execution—recognizing those who went above and beyond to deliver a truly exceptional Capstone experience.

Winner (Spring 2025): Hill Entertainment Group | New Media

Max, Matthew, & Ben '27: A fair-pay, artist-first music label that empowers young creators with creative freedom, professional support, and a 50/50 profit split. Listen on Spotify here.

I’m thrilled that many of you have already heard of Hill Entertainment Group—maybe you’ve even listened to their tracks. All semester, these three have been on a relentless grind: clocking hours in the studio after school, figuring out what it really takes to launch a record label, and crafting killer music programming for this year’s Horizons summer. They’ve accomplished a ton. 

But here’s what I hope really sinks in: when you keep showing up—day after day, even when you’re cooked—and pour steady, focused effort into a project, the “impossible” starts to look routine. Your late-night sessions transformed scratch melodies into polished tracks. That messy google doc full of half-formed ideas? Now it’s a working roadmap for a bona-fide record label and a summer program many students will experience. You proved that grit, curiosity, and a willingness to iterate can turn raw passion into something the whole community can hear, see, and feel. 

Adam BW, CEL New Media Instructor