HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE
CapSource's High School Initiative is an educational internship engagement designed to offer high school students the chance to learn through solving a real company's challenge. Students are placed in a professional working environment where there are real stakes, allowing them to gain exposure to the industry of their interest while learning through experience and application.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
We place students into groups of 4-6 peers, which they will collaborate with over the course of the engagement
Students will meet regularly with mentors provided by us to discuss progress and receive guidance
We connect them with a company that will present a project that is customized to their interests and goals
Students will complete the engagement and present final deliverables & recommendations to the company
Students will work closely with each other and meet with company staff to present deliverables on time
Students can include this experience as an internship on their resume and may be offered an official position by the company after this engagement
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
Engagement is 2-3 months long
Experience is helpful but not necessary — Students are vetted and accepted by resume
Meet with assigned mentor once a week
Participate in periodic evaluations
Attend virtual meetings with company executives
Collaborate with fellow peers
STUDENT BENEFITS
Fully Virtual Engagement
Real Company Challenges
Manageable Weekly Commitment
Check in with Mentors
Fully Virtual Engagement
Fully Virtual Engagement
Meaningful Work
Essential to the CapSource experience is that our students feel like they’re working on something meaningful —something real and not just theoretical. Our goal is to not just provide a powerful learning experience for our students, but to also provide strategic insights to our industry partners. Click here to learn more about the value of experiential learning.
Student Feedback
The feedback that students receive from faculty members, company stakeholders, and each other helps to point out professional strengths and weaknesses, all in a safe environment. With CapSource projects, feedback can be given in-person and/or processed through surveys and grading rubrics with scores for different skills.
Real Outcomes
Students are given projects based on current challenges that the industry partners currently have. The solutions they come up with are action-worthy outcomes such as marketing campaigns, go-to-market strategies, product strategy roadmaps, data visualization dashboards, and useful financial projections.
PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS
Real Companies
Each CapSource project involves real stakeholders from real companies, including startups, local businesses, non-profits, government entities, and large corporations. Checkout our active directory of host companies eager to collaborate through experiential learning engagements here.
Real Stakes
The best part of experiential learning projects is that unlike a case study from a textbook, the stakes in an experiential learning project are real. Students will gain a very legitimate experience through interacting with company executives and dealing with real challenges. Checkout some examples of the types of past engagements students have done here.
Mentorship
Although the engagement will closely resemble that of an internship, students will be well supported with guidance mentors along the way and well always have them as a resource if they ever need help or advice at any point in the experience. Regular meetings with mentors will involve check-ins and review of deliverables.
Program Flexibility
This engagement will be completely virtual, allowing students to retain access to the full experience despite the current situation. Students can easily work the time commitment around their existing schedule. The internship will require around 10-15 hours per week
Experiential Learning, when done properly, results in reference-worthy work experiences that students can be proud of; our students almost always include their projects on their résumés, and regularly discuss them in job interviews.