Enriching STEAM and CTE courses with real-world entrepreneurial training for college and career success

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Youth of color from Los Angeles deserve access to a STEAM education that engages, inspires, and prepares them for college and career success. Young people entering the anticipated job market of tomorrow will need to be agile and flexible, innovative thinkers, and technologically skilled. Moreover, technology will be at the forefront of the future job market. Nearly 50% of all jobs are forecasted to be eliminated by technology within the next two decades. Entrepreneurship can be used to deepen STEAM learning and engagement. Several researchers have shown that project-based learning, the cornerstone of entrepreneurial education, results in improved outcomes beyond traditional classrooms and across racial and economic lines. Researchers have also found that there is a strong link between social-emotional learning, a focus area of BUILD, and academic and career outcomes.

Partnering with LAUSD schools serving primarily Black & Latinx students from underresourced communities, BUILD provides teachers with the training and bi-weekly coaching to integrate our proven project-based entrepreneurial curriculum into their STEAM, CTE (Career and Technical Training Education), and other courses. As a result, students enrolled in BUILD STEAM courses receive the unique opportunity to explore the connection between their classroom STEAM lessons and real-world entrepreneurship.
Working collaboratively in teams, BULD students learn and apply human-centered design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test) to develop a business idea addressing a real need in their community. Youth present their ideas to professionals from the community in our Idea Pitch Competition. Once the top ideas are selected, new teams are formed and students work together to refine and improve their prototypes using the feedback from the community. The year culminates in a Business Plan Competition where teams present their business plan to panels of expert judges and reflect on their learning and growth. BUILD students also participate in a career panel where they receive valuable career advice and insight from high-achieving experts across various STEAM industries. In addition, BUILD provides ongoing coaching to LAUSD teachers to strengthen their 21st teaching skills.

In School Year 2024-25, BUILD will partner with five LAUSD high schools to integrate entreprenurship training in STEAM CTE courses to impact more than 400 students. BUILD will enhance STEAM/CTE courses to deepen student engagement & learning, while also prepare youth for college & careers. BUILD students will develop a rich array skills, including SEL competencies or Spark Skills (Communication, Collaboration, Problem Solving, Innovation, Grit, & Self-Management), business fundamentals, digital & financial literacy, networking, marketing, public speaking, & more. Through career panels & consistent mentoring/coaching, BUILD will expose students to different STEAM careers & help them build social capital to pursue their career goals. Moreover, through teacher training, BUILD will help STEAM teachers become better teachers. Due to our success with our 5 partner schools, BUILD will provide quaterly trainings on project-based learning for all 100 LAUSD CTE teachers.

Our impacts on STEAM and CTE students and teachers in School Year 2022-23, our second year in Los Angeles included:
*89% of BUILD LA students reported feeling more confident in how to plan for my future (college/careers).
*93% of BUILD LA students reported that BUILD helped them develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
*85% of BUILD LA students grew in at least one SEL capacity; 79% grew in two; and 68% grew in three.
*100% of BUILD LA teachers reported that they believe BUILD will have a positive impact on student outcomes in high school, college, and career success.
* 100% of BUILD LA teachers had a positive experience with BUILD & plan to use aspects of BUILD’s pedagogy in their other classes.
* 100% of BUILD LA teachers reported that BUILD helped them to become better teachers.