BUILDing Stories Blog Series | Post #1

BUILDing Stories | October Feature

The Kool Keychains team hit the ground running this year! They are a little different than other student businesses because they have a B2B business model, so instead of selling keychains one-by-one to individual customers, they sell them in bulk to businesses to distribute as they see fit. We've been working behind the scenes to try to identify some potential clients for them, but of course they didn't just sit around and wait for us to find business for them... they came up with a brilliant idea to use their keychains as an incentive for students who make the Honor Roll. They set up an appointment with their principal and pitched the idea to her and she loved it and ordered 40 units on the spot!
Pepper Hayes
BUILD Boston
Jonda Farris de Gamez, BUILD teacher at Woodside High School, shared what an incredible impact the Personal Pitch with Career Panel event had on one particular student. All year she has struggled with a student who has been disengaged, distracting others, and hiding headphones under his hoodie during class. For the Personal Pitch, he showed up in a collared shirt, very well rehearsed, delivered an incredible pitch and was highly engaged with volunteers. Jonda and the rest of his classmates were absolutely shocked. Since seeing him in that light, his classmates have begun to regard him as a leader with a lot of ability and his interactions have been dramatically different in and out of the classroom.
Jessica McGill
BUILD California
I heard an inspiring story from a Year 2 mentor this week. The prompt in class was "what do you want to accomplish in life?" One student wanted to help others, another wanted to be an inspiration to others, and the third wanted to be known as a kind person. When asked why, they attributed it to a "sense of duty", gratitude and compassion. I think these insightful and vulnerable answers were a testament to their mentors whom they've known for over a year and their excellent teacher as well. Love to hear it!
Angela Stokes
BUILD Boston
We had our first Personal Pitch and Career Panel a few weeks ago. We had a group of hybrid volunteers and there was an amazing quote from a volunteer about the positive impact of the event; "I felt the event was very valuable because it was a great opportunity for the students to practice their presentation skills and talk about themselves. As a volunteer panelist, I thought that all the students were very prepared and asked insightful questions during the career panel portion of the event. This is the kind of thing I wish I had the opportunity to do more of when I was in school."
Emily Donato
BUILD PA
I really enjoy watching students talk about BUILD. Students from HSWC created this board for their school fair this weekend to promote BUILD. It really brings me joy to watch student entrepreneurs flex their marketing and design skills in this way.
Justin Lokossou
BUILD NYC
Last Wednesday, BUILD students at Woodside High School pitched powerful personal stories and engaged in deep conversations with volunteers from EY and Google. Students confidently asked volunteers thoughtful career pathway questions including: “What’s a piece of career advice you wish you received when you were in high school?” And, “What academic or career regrets have you experienced and how did you overcome them?” Both volunteers and students walked away from the engagement with powerful insights and connects.
Anna Dinh
BUILD California
I recently visited one of the Career Panel sessions hosted by a second year teacher in Boston. This year, she has a great group of students and she's leading the class so well, with so much confidence and enthusiasm. Her students showed up to the Career Panel with questions prepared and engaged all of the members of the panel. It's amazing to watch both students and teachers transform from one year to the next!
Betsy Neptune
BUILD Boston
I will always remember the first team that I got to know as a mentor and coach. TEAM MY DOLL - all of the students as unique as the dolls we created to represent their style, countries, pride and complexities. We grew together that year - as we created, failed, pivoted, reached out for help and eventually made it to our first selling event! We shared tears, laughter, frustration and PRIDE that year. They have all graduated, moved on to college and more! There is nothing like working with our students - an experience that teaches us more than we can ever teach them!
Jill Moran
BUILD Boston
One of our Career Panel volunteers shared with students about life sometimes being an unpredictable journey - rarely do you go directly from point A to point B without some twists and turns along the way. A student shared afterward that they appreciated hearing that it's okay to have missteps in life that you can learn and grow from to get back on track. You can't always control your circumstances, but you can control how you react.
Lenworth Williamson
BUILD Boston
DC's District-wide Professional Development with CTE Programs was a huge success, and most attendees could see huge potential and opportunity for integrating our programming into their respective pathways. Of those attendees, 13 teachers representing nine new schools have emailed to express interest in our BUILD Design Challenge Sprint (a free, three-week trial) for Spring 2023. So, I'm in the process now of scheduling follow-up conversations with each of these educators.
Crystal M. Adair
BUILD DC
At our Personal Pitch & Career Panel event on 9/28 at San Fernando High School we had 15 NBCUniversal volunteers participate as facilitators and panelists. This is a videography classes and a majority of the students are interested in careers in entertainment. There were a few standout students that came dressed in FULL SUITS, putting into practice the professional skills they have been learning.
Michael Arellano
BUILD LA

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VIDEO PREPARATION GUIDELINES

HOW TO RECORD

1. iPhone, iPad, Zoom and Loom are all choices of recording tools for their video presentation 
2. Record with both students and their presentation in view
3. Record horizontally for the best view of the students and their presentation
4. Follow Presentation Diagram to the Right

PRESENTATION TIPS.

- Make eye contact with the camera
- Notecards may be used as cue cards
•Pro Tip: Notecards should avoid having a full script
- Even when you are not speaking, don’t forget the camera is still recording!
•Be aware of your body language while you and your business partners are speaking
- Everyone has an opportunity to speak
- Professional dress is encouraged
- Practice makes perfect
•Practice how you will transition from each speaker
•Project your voice when you speak​

Follow positioning format Above

Download a Sample of Our Curriculum

Fill out this form to receive a free sample of our curriculum and to receive occasional email updates on how to bring BUILD to your community.