Enterprise and Design is led by 4 coaches, Coach Sarah Renfrow, Coach Keegan Garner, Coach Darrick Gray, and Coach Richard Schacher. The students and coaches gather from 11:31 until 2:45 each day at the Academy. The students get to work with real world clients to solve problems for them and then present the solutions to the clients.
“Enterprise and Design is a program where students get regular high school credits but are earning it through client connected projects. So we put them in with clients and they work with teams to complete real world projects with actual problems that those clients need to have solved and they come up with solutions and pitch those ideas to the clients.” said Renfrow
The students in Enterprise and Design get a lot of freedom. The coaches always try to treat the students like adults and respect them.
“They’re working on real projects and so we really try to treat them like adults, like professionals and we try to give them as many options to make their own decisions about what they’re doing as much as we can,” said Renfrow.
Nikolas Wannamaker, a junior, believes that they should change how people get into Enterprise and Design .
“I wouldn’t change a whole lot other than maybe some sort of selection base students opposed to everyone who wants to sign up just signs up. It seems like there’s a good amount of people who want to do the work, and there’s a good amount of people who want to sit and get an easy ‘A’,”said Wannamaker.
The coaches want to improve the team for the students, they are doing this by adapting based on what the students are telling them and how the projects are coming out.
“The biggest changes we want to make right away are the things that the kids are telling us. So if we do something and then the students are telling us it’s not working for them then we scramble as fast as we can to adapt as much as we can. Now, we can’t always meet their demands 100% because I’m sure that they would like it if we would hang lollipops from the ceiling or something. But you know we do try to make it so they can just have that space that is most conducive to what serves them best” said Renfrow.
Enterprise and Design is held at the Raypec Academy currently. They are working with JE Dunn to build the lead center where Enterprise and Design will be held once it is built. The students and coaches are excited for the lead center to be built. Wannamaker is currently the project manager on the project.
“Working with JE Dunn to put together, help design, and coordinate everything with the JE Dunn Building… With the lead center being built gives it a touch of team… So not only is it for the board members. But it’s also designed by the students because it’s for the students,” said Wannamaker.