Leadership Development Opportunities Provide Pathways to Build Tech Skills

Through Leadership Development Opportunities (LDO) programming, Prep for Prep is making sure that technology skills are at every students’ fingertips. We’ve woven computer science into our 14-month Preparatory Component and we continue to build on this knowledge through our extensive LDO programs, including the long-running Institute for Entrepreneurship and the recent additions of Entrepreneurship Camp, the C-STEM Summer Program, and workshops focusing on various applications of coding.

Our Institute for Entrepreneurship (IFE) introduces rising ninth- and 10th-graders to the world of entrepreneurship and technology. Through five weeks of seminars, mentorship, and group work, students learn basic business and economic concepts, front-end and back-end coding, and app development. The coding curriculum is designed by our partner Cambio Labs, a nonprofit that creates educational technology and curricular programs. During the past summer, 16 coders developed interactive web apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We saw a surge in female-identifying students in the coding track, making up 56% of all coders in the program. “I definitely learned new topics that I will use in the future and learned more about myself,” says Diana A. (XXXV/Concord), one of IFE’s female coders. “I was open-minded to this course and may take what I learned to create something bigger than a website in the future.”

We debuted our Entrepreneurship Camp in partnership with Cambio Labs in the summer of 2022. Entrepreneurship Camp is a five-week program that helps rising eighth- and ninth-graders view problems through a sustainability lens and create viable solutions. The program serves as a valuable touchpoint and the tech and entrepreneurial skills gained can continue to develop in IFE, though the camp is not a prerequisite.

In addition to Cambio Labs, Google has been a partner in helping facilitate IFE for more than 10 years. The tech giant hosts students at their New York City offices and provides valuable mentors, but the long-standing partnership has expanded to include new programs such as the C-STEM Summer Program, a Robotics Workshop, and the Hip-Hop Hackathon. All of these partnerships have been championed by Dale Allsopp (VII/Calhoun ’91, Wesleyan ’95) MBA, Penn ’01, Google’s Director of Ads Strategy & Operations.

In the virtual C-STEM Summer Program, rising seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders learn the fundamentals of physical science, math, and coding through a curriculum designed by our partners at TalentSprint, a global edtech company. TalentSprint’s instructors conduct engaging virtual classes on subjects like electromagnetism, geometry, and coding languages. Dineth K. (XLV/Trinity) was familiar with block coding, but was able to expand his knowledge to text coding with Python. “The program does an excellent job of teaching math and physics by using simulations,” says Dineth. “C-STEM also encourages you to mess around with the simulation code itself and learn how it works by using Ziro Studio [a visual e-learning platform].” Dineth and fellow participants Yasmin F. (XLIV/RCDS) and Evan X. (XLIV/Poly Prep) earned the recognition of being top performers in the C-STEM program at the end of the summer and were awarded an Amazon Fire Tablet.

Working with Google, we have been able to offer students the chance to learn about robotics and music making using code. With the Robotics Workshop, students have the opportunity to work in small teams over the course of two days to build and program a robot from the ground up. Participants also hear from guest speakers, such as alums John Azubuike (P9 XVIII/ Exeter ’09, Harvard ’14) MBA, Penn ’24 and Thomas Weng (XXVII/Buckley ’07, Trinity ’11, Yale ’15) PhD, Carnegie Mellon ’23.