Projects & Student Work
What students make
Every week produces a real, finished piece — and students who do all three weeks leave with a portfolio.
The evidence locker
The three signature projects
The Speech
A 3–4 minute persuasive speech, written and delivered by the student on an issue they chose. They keep the script and the experience of having moved a room.
The Op-Ed
A 500–700 word opinion piece, revised with personal feedback and polished to a publishable standard. Standout pieces are published in our Student Voices collection — a real byline for a middle schooler.
The AI Pitch
An AI-powered solution to a real problem — prototype plus pitch deck — presented to the group. Students leave able to say, “I built and pitched something.”
Capstone
The Leaders Conference
Beyond the individual projects, students can take part in the Leaders Conference, a role-play summit where they split into government, nonprofit, and private-sector teams, research a shared problem, and negotiate a joint solution. It's where research, persuasion, negotiation, and compromise all come together — the real work of civic leadership, in miniature.
How it works: students vote on a problem to solve, break into their sector teams, research current solutions, failed attempts, persisting problems, and potential solutions, build a proposal with a cost-benefit case, and present — then the whole group works out which combination of solutions to back.
Student Voices
Published by middle schoolers
We feature standout student op-eds here — each a real argument, with a real byline, on an issue the student chose. It's both a point of pride for students and a window for families into the caliber of work that comes out of a single week.
On standardized testing: what do tests really measure?
Student byline, published in Student Voices.
On why we can't agree: polarization
Student byline, published in Student Voices.
On the fight for a free press
Student byline, published in Student Voices.
We'll be featuring student op-eds here — check back after Summer 2027.
Give your child something to be proud of.
Explore the three weeks, or apply to reserve a seat for Summer 2027 — registrations completed by April 1 get 10% off.