Three Washington D.C. young entrepreneurship teams are getting ready to battle it out at the Finals round for a chance to win more than $17,000. Digital Correspondent Sarah Macias traveled to the country’s capitol to catch a glimpse of the NFTE Young Entrepreneurship Challenge where judges chose the cream of the crop to compete on May 29th.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS SYDNEY AVELINO AND SHEMARI FRENCH ARE ONE OF DOZENS OF TEAMS COMPETING FOR THE NEXT BIG BREAK.

THEY HAVE TO PROVE HOW BAD THEY WANT THIS BREAK– TO JUDGES LIKE FEDERAL MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE, GREG BATEMAN.

JUDGE: "The fact that you have kids out there starting businesses is just wonderful on its own. "

THINK OF IT LIKE SHARKTANK–BUT FOR KIDS.

NFTE– WHICH STANDS FOR "NETWORK FOR TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP" IS HOSTING A COMPETITION ACROSS THE NATION LOOKING FOR THE STUDENT OR TEAM WITH THE BEST BUSINESS IDEA.

THE WINNERS– GET MONEY FOR A STARTUP.

**NATS OF SAY CHEESE PRESENTATION TO JUDGES**

AVELINO AND FRENCH SAY THE IDEA BEHIND "SAY CHEESE" IS TO ALLOW PEOPLE WITH HAND DISABILITIES TO TAKE PICTURES AND VIDEOS WITHOUT HAVING TO HOLD THE PHONE.

ALL IT TAKES IS A MICROBIT HAND WRAP AND AN APP.

**NATS **

THIS INVENTION COMES AFTER AVELINO’S GRANDMOTHER GOT INTO A CAR WRECK.

AVELINO: "I realized that she faced a lot of difficulty with holding a camera or even just holding her phone to take her little selfies and photos so I wanted to create a device that would basically make the photo taking experience much more easier for her."

THE IDEA, THE PASSION AND THE CREATIVITY OF "SAY CHEESE" WAS ENOUGH FOR THE JUDGES TO GIVE IT A GO.

JUDGE: "I’ve seen some ideas here that could actually be businesses, real viable businesses."

SAY CHEESE IS GOING TO THE FINALS ON MAY 29TH.

AND SO IS "LEAD LOCATOR"– A TEAM THAT CREATED A DEVICE THAT CAN DETECT LEAD IN WATER.

AND "E-PEARL" — WIRELESS EARBUDS WITH NOISE CANCELLATION.

AT THE FINALS– ONLY TWO MARYLAND TEAMS WILL MAKE IT TO THE NATIONAL ROUND IN OCTOBER HOSTED IN NEW YORK WHERE THEY COULD WIN UP TO 17-THOUSAND- FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

FOR REAL NEWS, I’M SARAH MACIAS