PROX SUMMER PROGRAM PREPARES STUDENTS FOR WHAT'S AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

When students in Kansas City schools enjoy juice from Ruby Jean’s Juicery in their school cafeterias, they have Keinan Ross-Henderson to thank for it. Ross-Henderson was one of six students working at Ruby Jean’s as part of Entrepreneurship KC, an initiative to create the next generation of entrepreneurs under the Working For Youth program in Kansas City. “Our goal was to develop a strategic plan on how to get Ruby Jean’s juices inside of Kansas City Public Schools,” he said. “I am proud to say it was successful and the Board of Education adopted that policy this year.“

The kind of experience Ross-Henderson had last summer is the kind that students can have this year through the ProX Summer Program. Built by multiple collaborators across the region within the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Real World Learning network, ProX builds on learning from prior approaches to connect even more students to professional, real-world learning experiences that prepare them for whatever comes beyond high school.

“It’s the next iteration of Real World Learning, designed for summer” said Laura Evans, Business and Education Adviser-in-Residence at the Kauffman Foundation. “We have growing demand for experiences, but also clearly hear stakeholders asking us to make it easier for students and employers.  Taking advantage of summer to create a more common approach makes sense.”

The five-week experience begins June 6, running 25 hours per week. On Mondays, students will spend four hours in a training and development session, then complete 21 hours at their workplaces Tuesday through Friday. One of the best parts? The students are paid. They receive a $1,250 stipend at the end of the five weeks.

Workplaces committed to host experiences this summer include CBIZ, BNIM, the City of Kansas City, Mo., among others. With more than 550 student applications received thus far, there are currently just over 100 employers signed up for this summer and more are needed.  Visit this page for more information about hosting an opportunity or sign up here. If you have questions, please email info@proxsummer.org. The deadline to commit to providing opportunities is April 10

Whether it’s 100 or 150 employers involved, Evans said these summer experiences and internships are not about having a student fetch coffee or grab dry cleaning. “We’re talking about authentic valuable work that needs to be done for an organization,” she said. “It could be customer research, analyzing data sets, putting together a marketing plan, and so much more.”

Ross-Henderson, a graduate of the Kauffman School and a current first-year student at Metropolitan Community College, said his experience with Entrepreneurship KC involved all of the above. He and his team and Ruby Jean’s used a data-driven approach. “We held taste tests with different students across KCPS,” he explained. “We took the data and put it into a portfolio where we noticed which flavors people liked and which ones they didn’t. Then we took the current cost of the juices and tweaked them to fit the school district’s expenses. KCPS now has 500 juices available in schools.” This young entrepreneur didn’t stop when the program was over; he took his stipend and opened a Roth IRA. “It was a really positive and life-changing experience.”

“Those are the kinds of experiences we want students to have,” said Evans. But she stressed that it’s not just students who benefit. “Employers are getting an early connection to their future workforce and talent, and they’re also getting a look at their future clients too, for a fresh perspective on the work they’re doing today. It can also be an opportunity for teachers to have some professional development when it comes to working with students and employers to learn what it takes to bridge those two worlds.”

As more students apply, interested employers – private, public, or non-profit – are urged to sign up to provide those meaningful experiences by the April 10th deadline.