Rediscover your home. Accelerate your journey. grow with your city.
Thank you for your interest in the Somerville BuildCorps Incubator at Canopy in Union Square! This program for Somerville youth ages 12-18 will run from the first week of October 2017 to the second week of June 2018, with two three-hour sessions during most weeks. It will culminate in a celebration at Canopy during which students will have the chance to share their work with the larger community and to receive meaningful and relevant feedback, as well as opportunities for future mentorship or internships.
Over the course of 28 weeks, students will work in small teams to create a “startup” that will lay the groundwork for making meaningful connections within the local community, learning technical skills, and applying the skills needed to solve real-world problems. Students will be evaluated on the quality of their ideation, their technical competence, their entrepreneurial mindset and their effective communication in pitching their idea.
The problems students identify might relate to one or more of the following themes: Poverty; Environment; Peace; Racial, Ethnic & Gender Equality; Health; and Education.
Students will be expected to clearly outline and provide evidence through facts and statistics about the problem they are addressing and create a new technological solution that effectively addresses the problem that was outlined.
In developing a business plan, students will be able to explain their reasoning for their chosen business model (free, subscription, freemium, etc…) and support their claims with facts and statistics.
In communicating their idea to a wider audience, students will use multiple modalities for various purposes. For example, they will create a demo video that demonstrates the functionality of the technology they have developed--be it a mobile app or hardware. They will also be required to create a pitch in both “live” and video formats and to cater their pitches to specific audiences.
Throughout the process students will be expected to demonstrate passion and energy in serving as ambassadors for Somerville Public Schools as they connect with key players in the local innovation ecosystem.
Please use the form below to apply for a spot in the program. Our goal is to support a more diverse, vibrant and locally-sourced Somerville innovation community; we will get back to you as soon as possible with more information about your application.
Visit the link for more info and a detailed schedule for the Fall 2017 program.
Click here for details about our upcoming informational sessions on September 11.
