Putting It All Together - The Showcase

The Showcase is an immersive experience, celebrating the participant journey of designing a company. Participants will have prepared and practiced their sales and presentation skills as well as demonstrated their creativity through diverse media. Visitors will be immersed in an experience where they explore which companies they would purchase from and/or invest in. 

In order to prepare for the Showcase, facilitators will guide participants through a series of lessons throughout the project timeline.

Alongside the participant’s preparation, the Showcase itself will also need to be planned and coordinated. Depending on the level of involvement desired for participants, choose from the following options:

OPTION 1: Facilitators Plan and Coordinate Showcase

* Recommended for shortened versions of the project

In this option, facilitators should plan ahead to:

• Reserve a space for the Showcase

• Communicate the date and time of the Showcase to all participants

• Create a layout of where all participants will display their Companies

• Invite the community to participate in the process as guest speakers, judges and providers of feedback, and at the very least, as invited guests to the showcase.

  • School/Program Community: To validate participant’s learning and build campus relationships 

    • Other facilitators, classroom teachers, school administrators, counselors, librarians, campus supervisors, district staff, etc.

  • Participants & Youth Voices: Builds peer inspiration and positions participants as experts

    • Participants from other schools, community participant leadership groups

  • Families & Caregivers: Increases participant pride and ownership; helps families see the depth of learning beyond homework

    • Parents/guardians, siblings, extended family

  • Community Members & Local Partners/Businesses: For participants to engage with those that run businesses and/or experience the inner workings of a company

    • Local small business owners, community event organizers, cultural centers, etc.

  • Company & Civic Representatives: To show how civic systems have a part in how businesses operate

    • Company council members or staff, planning & zoning department staff, City manager, City clerk/licensing staff, Code enforcement, Health Department, Economic Development Department, etc.

  • Business Professionals: To reinforce that companies run because of many essential roles, not just leadership

    • Executives, Management, Entry level, Interns

  • Industry & Career Connections (Optional): Connects the project to future careers and pathways

    • Entrepreneurs, CEOs

• Organize timeline of set up, showcase, and clean up and communicate to participants/other facilitators 

• EXTRA! Utilize the connections above to set up a field trip for participants to experience part of how a Company functions

OPTION 2: Facilitators Work with Participants to Plan and Coordinate Showcase

* Recommended for maximizing the involvement and learning of the participants

In this option, all of the same items in Option 1 remain; however, facilitators intentionally share planning responsibilities with participants. The level of participant leadership increases by grade band, while facilitators remain responsible for safety, approvals, timelines, and final execution.

Optional lessons will be provided for those who choose to include the participants in the planning process.

​

​