Students studying at Maya Angelou Public Charter High School

First Semester in DC

The first year of life is filled with moments of joy, fear, and lots of growth and the same could be said about BUILD Metro DC! We have had some unique and challenging moments this first year in DC, but continue to press on, work hard, learn, and have fun as we ensure that the students we support understand and benefit from what we have to offer.

Despite the normal and some not-so-normal complaints of teenagers, BUILD Metro DC students get more and more engaged with each class session and they are quick in comprehending concepts. In the upcoming weeks, we will be shepherding students through the business-team formation process and launching into writing their actual business plans.

The relationship between mentors and students is getting stronger as they continue to work together. A marketing project in which students and mentors collaborated to create a new campaign for a popular candy bar was a hit – groups were so engaged that is was difficult to tell them class was over!

We can’t help but be proud of Metro DC's growth, and we will continue to do well. Why? We have wonderful teachers who are committed to BUILD’s success and we have strong support from our partner schools, the entire BUILD  team and our board members. We also have wonderful interns from George Washington University who make our staff of three feel like much more. As our students push toward the inaugural Business Plan Competition, we look forward to establishing BUILD as a truly impactful and important part of the Metro DC community!