It may be hard to believe Lumity found a group of 30 high school students who are willing to trade their free Saturdays for the next 12 weeks. They are taking advantage of an opportunity to gain career skills, improve their communities and compete for thousands of dollars in scholarships.
On Saturday, March 14, Lumity launched its STEM Saturdays program. Sponsored by Accenture and supported by volunteers from Allstate, Accenture and GE Capital, this program runs for 12 weeks on Saturdays, from 10am to 2pm. Students from local schools are teaming up to select a nonprofit or small business in their community that could use their help. Over the course of the 12 weeks, teams will assess the organization’s web presence, make a plan for improvement and implement that plan.The goal of this program is to strengthen students in three areas: project-based learning, teamwork and career readiness skills. Additionally, students have the opportunity to have a direct impact on their communities by helping an organization. Participants can put new competencies to the test as they apply both career and technology skills.
Students and volunteers made their way to Accenture’s office on Saturday, March 14, to meet their teams and get started. The first task: introductions. Every participant paired off with someone they did not already know to ask a few questions about each other. Then, facing their public speaking fears head-on, each person introduced their partner to the group.
After that, the groups split up and began establishing a team. The Allstate team got right down to business, taking notes and capturing ideas and each team member’s voice.
The Accenture team broke the ice by getting to know one another with an activity where individuals wrote a hard-to-guess fact about themselves on a piece of paper, balled it up and threw them at each other several times to mix them up. Then, they each read the fact they picked up and guessed which new colleague it belonged to.
The GE Capital team started by assigning roles for team members and generating ideas. Maybe that’s why their team name is the TC Generators!
Each week, all three teams and their coaches will meet at one of the three corporate headquarters. The next step is selecting their clients and establishing how to address enhancing their web presence. Check out our Facebook page for photos and stay tuned for updates on this blog.
At the end of the program, on June 20, each group will present their final project for a panel of judges and all of Lumity’s guests. Save the date and email [email protected] if you’re interested in receiving an invitation to this exciting event.