Fresno summer program gives students entrepreneurship skills

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Of a group of students, each one might be the face of the CEO of a new startup or the creator of the latest tool in technology.

But right now, they're the faces of the students in the Idea2Project Summer Program where students like Daniella Guerra are building cars and testing their speed.

"It's great because it opens your eyes that there's so much creativity that your able to do," she said.

Idea2Product is a 10-day, hands-on program aimed at teaching students how to brainstorm ideas for a new product, create a prototype for that idea, and then market their product.

"By the time they leave here, they'll have the knowledge and confidence that when they have that brilliant idea," STEM educator Woody Sobey said. "They'll be able to take it to market."

The program includes 15 high school students who come from both Fresno Unified and the Philippines.

Entrepreneur Pathways created the program to not only teach students about innovation and iteration but also implementing those skills at work.

"It's a skill and it's the skills that are going to make them successful in life," Tim Stearns with Pathways said. "They don't have those skills, yet companies are sitting there saying we want them to have that."

This year, the program teamed up with Fresno Ideaworks, the second largest maker space in the state allowing the students to work with anything from wood-turning to 3D printing.

"There getting a lot more knowledge about what's out there and what they can use when they have an idea," Sterns said.

Daniella said while she knows she wants to own a business, she doesn't know what the finish line holds yet.

"There's business in medical, business in agriculture," she exclaimed. "Everything is a business."

But she knows she has options.