Project Partners are the core of the program. A team of four to five students will work to design and prototype a solution to a challenge you face in your life. Teams will interview you to learn more about you, your everyday life, and the specific challenges you face. The information and insight you provide will guide the students into building an innovative, one-of-a-kind product just for you!

Open to sharing experiences and challenges with students.

Not everyone is comfortable talking about their disability, and that’s perfectly fine. We’re looking for someone willing to say “here’s the disability I have, and here are the challenges associated with it.”

Gracious, taking a learning perspective.

They are willing to give leeway to those who make mistakes. How do we be compassionate toward the fact that these kids are scared and they don’t know how to talk about disability? When someone doesn’t know what words to use, how can we help the students navigate?

Generous about the outcome of the prototypes.

This is a learning experience with high school students. There’s the possibility that this app might impact someone’s life, or the app might not turn out well. Be understanding of that fact.

Able to articulate clear challenges.

Most people aren’t sitting around voicing their experiences as challenges. What are the three challenges that the students might be able to work on? Think of things that the students could actually do something about, something that’s not too highly technical, and also not too prescriptive.

Flexibility!!

Things will move quickly, and everyone on the team will be stretched. Calm, patience, an exploratory mindset, professionalism, and willingness to have fun are all elements of flexibility.

Confidence.

Project Partners won’t always know the answer, but they should have faith that they have what it takes to find it.

Willingness to be passive, when appropriate.

The students have to build the prototype; the Project Partner or Coach shouldn’t build it all for them. Sometimes the students might go in a direction different from the direction you would go in. Coaches and Project Partners are the rails, marking the range of space a team could wander through to get done in 10 days.