The INCubator program at TCHS has helped students succeed and build a better future by pitching their product and business ideas to make them a reality.
Despite the large, see-through window that catches the eyes of numerous students each day, many students still are on the outside looking in.
The Executive Director of Career & Technical Education, Jason Cooper, has helped structure the program to get the most out of aspiring students.
“INCubator is an entrepreneurship program that allows opportunities for students to be able to take ideas to the table and figure out ways, what problems need to be solved either in the world of in an industry and figure out how to take those problems into solution,” said Cooper. “…hopefully grow that into either a product or a business that they launch with inside of the class or inside the program,”
This allows students, like Junior Za’Veon Wilson, to get the help they need to get their business and products started up. They also learn important skills to run their business like money management.
“I would like a high end heel shoe company and so I feel like it if it helped me go through the door of like, how a business operates in the back end of it,” said Wilson. “…help finance the company from the ground up and so I think that shows me money management.”
As Wilson felt the support from the INCubator, there are many other ways get support and learning opportunities. This can be getting “exposure to outside community partners” or how to work with other people.
“One you get exposure to outside community partners that are experts in their fields tied to the curriculum that you’re learning…So working as a team, working around, uh facing adversity, overcoming obstacles, figuring out, these people are not my best friends, and that’s okay, but we have to be we’re in it together, we uh we have to figure out around each other,” said by TCHS Bookkeeper, Mandy Sueltz.
With all of these lessons and skills students have learned, they are able to grow as a person. The mentors that are a part of this program get to see that first hand.
“We have a kid this year who last year was super shy, was very involved in his product and not really great as a team member,” said by Sueltz. “…he wanted to come back and actually have another product for service…he stood next to a kid on his team who got a little bit of stage fright and this kid put his hand on his back and said you got this and said his next lines and he really encouraged his teammate.”
This program has really shine light on these kids while helping others shine as well. Showing how all students grow into something better.
“You have to constantly engage with strangers in the school that are coming to mentor you and you have to be brave enough to ask the question, all these things that are very difficult skills,” said by Sueltz “And these kids go in, totally raw and they come out totally polished, and I love that. I love this program.”