TEAM AND SKILLS-FOCUSED APPROACHES TO INTERNSHIP AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS

Team-based work-based experiential learning opportunities for high school students build early awareness of geoscience careers opportunities. For geosciences, interdisciplinary STEM programs afford an opportunity to inspire students about geoscience that otherwise would not consider a geoscience career. These experiences provide agency for students to practice and build soft or professional skill building while enhancing their technical and problem solving skills. Presented are three different approaches used across North Carolina through summer and afterschool options. The first program, Teamship, via non-profit District C, builds professional and problem solving skills as students solve a real problem for a real business with a trained coach, either in-person or remotely, while being coached on teamwork and problem solving tools. Students present solutions to business problems ranging from organizational/logistical, to marketing/ communication, to other field/subject-specific problems. A second program, Summer Ventures in Science and Math, since 1985 has provided 10,000+ students a cohort/team-based STEM research experience focused on a STEM research project with university researchers for 4 weeks. Accepted students then choose or are assigned a research project among multiple STEM disciplines with research faculty. The program design is a hybrid between CURE and REU undergraduate research experiences with a strong focus on team building and common residential life experiences. The third program, INSPIRE, creates a one-week, in-person team-based professional experience within STEM where students complete a small, guided project while learning the career and technical skills required in a profession. Partners include university researchers, non-profits, or businesses with a STEM focus. The program also includes a strong focus on team building and common residential life experiences.