Do you remember sitting in math class wondering when you were ever going to use algebra as an adult? 

What about that English research project? You're likely not referencing Beowulf in your day-to-day. 

I once did a group biology presentation where we made a video about human development. That knowledge isn't overly helpful in my work today.

While the exact topic may or may not be overly relevant, the exercise of those types of projects helps young brains develop important critical-thinking skills, expanded ability to problem solve, and builds capacity to work with others as a team. No, you may not use the specific knowledge now as an adult (though maybe you do) but you do use the skills you learned. 

Schools and educators would love to bring more real-world experiences to the classroom to help students make those connections. Team-Based Challenges are a great opportunity to get your business in front of students and provide them an opportunity to practice skills you'd like to see them have as a future employee. 

There's a number of ways you can do this:

• You do use algebra or geometry in your day-to-day and would love to show students why learning that process DOES help you as an adult.
• You're considering a brand re-design or launching a new product and would like to help a graphic design or entrepreneur class learn what that process is like. 
• You're a health care partner and would like to give a biology or science class a taste of using their textbook knowledge on the job.
• You've got a challenge your team is working on and you're just curious how the students would approach it.
• Maybe none of the above is happening now, but you've got experience and a desire to help bring more people into you industry. 

Illinois State Board of Education has a lot of great examples of problems students and industry could partner on if you're looking for inspiration. Ultimately, the goal of team based challenges is to put the student in the employee position and give them the opportunity to experience solving a challenge. 

The biggest question you're probably asking - how does this benefit my business? I'll be honest, this isn't a next quarter win. We're talking about the next decade here. Exposure now may lead to a new employee or customer down the road. This is just one step in building a strong pipeline of exposure for future talent.

One of the Chamber-world greats, Chris Romer from the Vail Valley Partnership, recently said, "The workforce of the future isn’t sitting somewhere waiting to be discovered. It’s sitting in our classrooms today. The question is how we are willing to help students connect learning with opportunity before they graduate."

If you're interested in connecting with a classroom, send me a note!