Students investigate real challenges from local business owners and develop practical solutions while learning how entrepreneurship, risk, ethics, and market analysis shape business decisions. Over 10 weeks, they use mentor interviews, case study sprints, AI-supported research, critique cycles, and client feedback to build professional artifacts including problem statements, task boards, portfolios, and a polished pitch deck. The experience prepares 11th and 12th graders to compare business models, analyze opportunities and risks, communicate professionally, and manage their work like emerging professionals. Learning culminates in a public Portfolio Pitch Night where teams defend their thinking, present next steps, and show growth through a digital portfolio.

Students will analyze authentic small-business challenges to identify customer needs, market opportunities, ownership options, startup versus acquisition tradeoffs, and risk management factors, then use that analysis to define a clear project scope and proposed solution. Students will develop and revise professional-quality artifacts, including interview notes, problem statements, task boards, portfolios, pitch decks, and presentation scripts, using mentor feedback, peer critique, and milestone gallery walks to improve their work. Students will practice ethical and socially responsible decision-making by evaluating workplace safety, client communication, and responsible AI use in business tasks. Students will strengthen collaboration, self-direction, and communication by conducting mentor interviews, completing audio reflections after check-ins, and presenting their final recommendations and portfolios to a public audience.

Students create a sequence of authentic work products: a signed team charter, Know/Need-to-Know chart, mentor interview notes, approved problem statement and project scope, AI-assisted research roadmap, Kanban task board, and case study analysis of business risks, ownership options, market opportunities, and customer pain points. Across the middle weeks, they produce rough and revised client deliverables, peer feedback logs, revision action plans, workplace safety and ethical AI checklists, and two-minute audio reflections after each mentor or client check-in. They also build professional artifacts including a resume, digital portfolio site, gallery walk reflection notes naming one success, one risk, and one next step, plus a client satisfaction summary. By the end, each team presents a polished pitch deck and live presentation script at Portfolio Pitch Night, with rotating demo stations and QR-linked digital portfolios that defend their solution, differentiation, risks, and recommended next steps.

Open with a Challenge Kickoff Lab where teams rotate through a real local business case file that includes customer complaints, sales snapshots, safety concerns, and sample AI-generated recommendations, then sort evidence into Know, Need to Know, Risks, and Opportunities. Teams conduct a timed analysis to compare possible business ownership models, identify the client’s market need, and draft a first problem statement and differentiation idea for the product or service. Close with a brief mentor video or live business owner pitch, followed by a professional email response from each team requesting a follow-up intake interview and naming their top three inquiry questions. End the launch with a quick audio reflection in which students capture what surprised them, what ethical or business risks they noticed, and how their team will work together in week one.

Host a Portfolio Pitch Night with rotating demo stations where each team presents its polished pitch deck and a 3–5 minute live script to local business owners, family members, and school leaders. At each station, visitors scan QR codes to view the team’s digital portfolio, including interview notes, problem statements, task boards, revision logs, ethical AI decisions, and final business recommendations. Build in a feedback loop by having guests leave warm and cool comments on a simple rubric focused on clarity, market analysis, risk management, and professionalism. Close the event with a brief public defense where students explain how mentor feedback, milestone reflections, and critique cycles shaped their final solution and next steps.