It’s no secret that education has been one of the hardest hit systems since the start of the pandemic. With schools increasingly turning to a “hybrid mode” or shifting to an entirely online format, parents continue to be concerned about their students’ access to an impactful education.
An estimated 55.1 million American students have been affected by school closures, and with the economy stagnating, many high schoolers are left wondering what opportunities they have to strengthen their college and career prospects during these uncertain times.
TYE Student Entrepreneurship Academy, a Boston-based, virtual boot camp for business and leadership skills has helped fill in the missing gap for high school career training courses and afterschool programs. Through a series of online workshops and training sessions led by industry experts, the Academy is aimed toward helping ambitious high school students identify their strengths, explore future careers in startups and STEM, and prepare for success in college and beyond.
Last year, 90% of TYE alumni reported the Academy influenced their decision to pursue a career path in STEM, and 40% were inspired to start their own company. This year, students have the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded students across the world, build a real startup, and compete for up to $5,000 in seed funding all from the safety of their homes.
Hosted by the non-profit TiE Boston, the Academy program connects a network of successful, seasoned entrepreneurs who are deeply engaged and committed to giving back to the community. The ultimate goal is to continue a repeatable education cycle to foster the next generation of entrepreneurship. The TiE Global Network has reached over 12,000 members across 18 countries, and focuses on supporting entrepreneurs throughout their lifecycle—from ideation to creation, through growth, wealth creation and, ultimately, support of future founders.
As a participant in Scratch’s Aviation Academy, the TYE team was looking for strategic support in recruiting more students for their first-ever virtual program in alignment with the 2020–2021 academic year. Together, we determined which outlets were most effective to recruit more prospective students and collaborated on new messaging for a dedicated landing page for this year’s program.
Through our efforts, the Academy saw a significant increase in application volume, comprising more than 70% of the total number of program applicants. Through a combination of paid social campaigns and local news outreach, the TYE Academy adopted a new approach that highlighted the true value of the program, effectively communicating it to their target audience. As a result, the Academy kicked off the program with 65 students total—all of whom will gain the building blocks to launch their careers after college.
With online sessions that began this October and are set to continue through May 2021, we’re excited to see the innovation and expertise that come out of this year’s student class.
To learn more about the Academy, visit https://www.tye-boston.org/entrepreneur-academy.
For more info on Scratch’s Aviation Academy, see https://scratchmm.com/scratch-aviation-academy.
