Country of Residence
United States
Age
16
Project title
Summit Seekers
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Summit Seekers bridges the summer learning gap for younger students through free, interactive enrichment that develops cognitive skills and creative thinking, while helping high school students discover opportunities, build career skills, and explore colleges that fit their goals.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://summitseekersp.org/
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Growth (We’ve moved past the very first activities and are beginning to have consistent weekly or monthly impact)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The initial inspiration was sparked during a college webinar on passion projects. It got me thinking about a lesson that I learned as a kid. My mom registered me in the Youth Passion Project, which provided engaging courses on video editing, Rubik's Cube, baking, math, investment banking and more. Video editing was my favorite because the lessons were engaging and felt authentic, as opposed to typical school. Eventually the program was discontinued so my younger brother never had the opportunity to participate in those same classes. I quickly realized that many students didn't have the same resources as well. I wanted to bring that experience to students who were younger and started what was previously Summer Seekers. My mission was to provide free, engaging classes that kept students learning while honing their thinking skills, creativity, and confidence. While I was designing the program I reflected on my high school experience. I spent most of my freshman and half of my sophomore year grasping for programs, competitions, internships and college access programs. After I figured out where to look I discovered that kids just like me don't have transparent access to these opportunities. That's when Summer Seekers grew up into Summit Seekers, bringing enrichment activities to 1st-8th graders, and opportunity and college access to high schoolers.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Students are eager to learn and to develop, but the right resources aren't always within reach. For example, summer can be a learning hiatus for kids because the interactive, engaging enrichment classes they need are costly, location-dependent, or unavailable. Many students miss out on opportunities to try out chess, arts, science, coding, math or AI in a fun, engaging setting that also enhances creativity, confidence and critical-thinking. A similar issue exists for High school students. Internships, competitions, research opportunities, scholarships, summer programs , many great things are spread out among various websites and social media accounts. Students don't know where to look, or whether they're eligible, or when the deadline is. College information can be just as overwhelming. This is personal to me because I've been on both sides of it. A childhood enrichment program I loved was ended before my little brother could attend. I spent nearly all of my first two years of high school desperately searching for challenges and opportunities. A student’s education and growth should not depend on their family’s income, where they live, or whether they have insider connections.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Summit Seekers connects two pathways by age group. Free enrichment programs are designed for students in grades K-9 in which Mentors, high school students trained to facilitate the sessions , guide students through topics like chess, science, art and creativity, Rubik's Cube, computer programming, mathematics and artificial intelligence. Mentors lead the sessions and skills-based activities rather than simply presenting lessons, using discussions, demonstrations, games, competition, challenges, and hands-on projects to keep students engaged, foster creative and critical thinking and increase confidence and curiosity. Our online platform lets people take part from anywhere. For students in grades 9–12, we designed digital tools that simplify opportunity discovery, skill development, and college planning. Summit Navigator helps students discover internships, contests, fellowships, research, scholarships, summers programs, service and volunteering, and more that align with their grade level, state, interests, and co-curricular activities. Summit Skill Paths delivers career areas content and learning experiences for students to complete on their own. Includes reading, activities, assessments and portfolio development. Summit College Match allows students to compare college data, including academics, cost and benefits, and campus dimensions with links to original sources. All these programs work toward a pathway that allows young children to pursue their interests, develop skills they will need, access mentorship, and then open doors to high school and college. We want to make sure that our tools are free, so that each student has them no matter where they live or what type of access they have to information.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Summit Seekers has impacted over 30 students in 4 states. During our summer enrichment program, younger students experienced free, dynamic classes like chess, science, art, coding, math, Rubik's Cube, and artificial intelligence, allowing students to explore interests they might not have experienced in a traditional school setting while being guided by mentors who are closer to their age. In addition, the program provided an opportunity for our mentors to build leadership, communication and teaching skills. What started as a childhood learning experience of mine has evolved into a student-led organization with a team, defined programs and students reached outside of my own community. We also recently introduced online tools for high school students: Summit Navigator, Summit Skill Paths, and Summit College Match. These resources are still evolving, so I do not want to claim impact before we have reliable usage data. Over the next year, we will measure student engagement, returning participants, completed activities and projects, mentor participation, and student feedback.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes Summit Seekers unique is how it combines student enrichment, peer mentorship, skill development, opportunity discovery, and college exploration within one organization. Other programs tend to address only one segment of that journey; a summer program for middle schoolers or a college-search website or online course platform for high schoolers or an opportunity database for older students all support the same population but as separate parts of the process, separate organizations. Summit Seekers unites these pieces so students get the support they need as they mature. Our model of mentorship is also youth-led. We have dedicated high school students who teach the younger students through games, projects, challenges, activities and learn about mentoring through practice, rather than only presentations. Difficult topics become more accessible, and the high school students gain invaluable leadership and education experience. We view our high school students as program participants, too-they "create access" for the younger youth. All those high profile and niche opportunities that are often posted across several sites are aggregated and curated into Summit Navigator for grades 9-12. We are building Resume Match so that students will be able to identify opportunities aligned with their abilities and experiences versus trying to find them among unrelated openings. Summit Skill Paths provides sequencing and portfolio projects, Summit College Match provides college listings and back links to the original sources. What is new is bringing all of these concepts together in one free, student-created pathway that takes our student from an interest, to a skill, to a project, and then to an opportunity or college, that aligns with that student's goal.
How many people are on your team?
5
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our team consists of myself and 4 high school mentors. I serve as Founder and Executive Director, setting strategic direction, building relationships, designing the curriculum and identifying growth opportunities. The mentors create and facilitate engaging lessons, support our students, and provide a critical lens as we iterate. We assign roles based on each person's talents and work as a team to make key decisions and refine the program.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
In the coming year, my plan is to grow both sides of the Summit Seekers program. To reach the majority of our younger students, we will continue running a few additional enrichment cohorts, expanding our team of high school mentors, and working with libraries, schools, and community organizations to reach underserved students. I hope to increase the number of students we serve from around 30 to 60, then, with a more experienced team of mentors, from five to 12, with six program cohorts and four community partners. We would establish Summit Access Labs, available to all students who need the additional resources-that provide re-usable learning kits, printed resources and workshops. Grant funds and sponsorships would allow us to buy kits, design mentor training, upgrade safety procedures, and offer free access to all students. For high school students, we will iterate on Summit Navigator with more listings, up-to-date opportunities and niche programs, upfront and detailed eligibility criteria, and Resume Match that will help student find opportunities that fit them best. We will also build on Summit Skill Paths and College Match. As we grow, we will track attendance, completed projects, returning students, mentor participation, and feedback surveys. This will help us understand what genuinely benefits students instead of focusing only on increasing our numbers.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
So far, Summit Seekers has served more than 30 students across four states and engaged five high school mentors. We connect directly with students and families via our website, social media, posters, school and community connections, and networking. We keep the program free and provide a variety of subjects so that families can choose something that fits their child's interests. We want high school students to join us as mentors by providing a concrete opportunity to apply a skill they already possess in the service of others. Mentors are trained, prepare lessons, facilitate engaging classroom activities, answer questions, and provide feedback that helps us to continuously improve. They are not just volunteers; they're given real responsibilities. When working on our resources for high school, I facilitate online outreach by discussing with other students our struggle to find good opportunities and college information. Students may also suggest specific opportunities or courses, outdated entries, and improvements for our tools. In the year to come, we will continue to partner with libraries, schools and community groups, recruit more mentors, and conduct workshops to engage new families in our programs. We will use student projects and program evaluation data to show other young people that they too can participate as learners, mentors and community partners.
