Developing the Future of Entrepreneurship: My Externship at the Idaho Innovation Center

This summer, I had the opportunity to work with the Idaho Innovation Center in Idaho Falls to help launch an annual pitch competition for both adults and youth in Southeastern Idaho. The goal was to provide local youth with the skills to create and present business ideas, and I was tasked with developing resources to support this initiative.

Project Overview
My role was to create promotional materials and a comprehensive curriculum for the youth competition. The materials aimed to raise awareness, while the curriculum was designed to guide youth through each step of developing a business idea and preparing a pitch.

Goals & Outcomes
The main goals were to create engaging flyers, web copy, and an online curriculum to help youth effectively prepare for the competition. I also streamlined the application process by creating a digital application form.

Accomplishments
During my externship, I achieved the following:

• Flyers & Web Copy: I developed materials to introduce the competition to the community.
• Digital Application: I built a Google Forms application to replace paper submissions.
• Curriculum Development: I designed a seven-module curriculum to guide youth through the process of developing and presenting their business ideas and made it into an accessible online course. The modules were as follows:
  Module 1: Intro to Teen Pitching (1 hr) – Understand pitch format and competition goals.
  Module 2: Finding a Business Idea (1.5 hrs) – Brainstorm and refine a real-world problem.
  Module 3: Validating the Idea (1.5 hrs) – Learn customer validation via surveys/interviews.
  Module 4: Building a Business Model (2 hrs) – Create a lean business model.
  Module 5: Designing the Pitch Deck (2 hrs) – Learn slide creation and pitch structure.
  Module 6: Speaking & Presenting (2 hrs) – Practice confident delivery and pacing.
  Module 7: Practice & Feedback (2 hrs) – Give and receive feedback to refine the final pitch.

Career Impact
This experience provided valuable business insights, from idea validation to creating a business plan. These skills will help me with fundraising efforts at school and in supporting students’ entrepreneurial growth and knowledge of the economy. Additionally, I gained hands-on experience with tools like Google Forms and Google Classroom, which I plan to use in my 3rd-grade classroom.

Grade Level and Subject Taught: 3rd Grade