Next generation Of Work (NOW)

Developing Talent and Innovative Solutions

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) partners with District C to provide real-world learning experiences for high school students and innovative solutions for participating businesses. The resulting Next generation Of Work (NOW) program pairs student teams with area companies who pose an open-ended problem for the students to solve.

Students gain valuable experience and tools in a coached, teamwork setting, and employers gain fresh perspectives on potential solutions.

2024 NOW Recap

2023 NOW Recap

What is the Next generation Of Work (NOW Teamship) program?

The basis of the NOW program is unique and simple: a business provides an open-ended problem to a group of students who, with guidance from a coach, work together to provide solutions.

The primary objective of the teamship experience is to provide the student participants with essential soft skills like systematic problem-solving and effective collaboration. Through interview sessions with the businesses, research and data analysis, students figure out the problem and its full context—a critical step in offering potential solutions.

After several interview and discovery sessions where students try to understand any important causes and context and previous efforts to solve it, the students present their findings and potential solutions to the business.

Students from the Academy for Engineering & Technology have completed this process for several years. Three IALR employees and several educators from across Southern Virginia are certified District C coaches.

The NOW teamship model is part of IALR’s systematic approach to connecting students to careers.

"This experience allowed me to make a real-world impact in my community and provided a basis for the problem-solving process I will have to go through as an engineer in my future career."

Cora Wilson / Academy for Engineering and Technology, Graduate

"We got to solve a real-world business problem, and it felt cool because we were doing something that meant something in school. And we found the root of the problem like we were supposed to. We contributed a lot of new knowledge and ideas."

Gavin Shields / Academy for Engineering and Technology

"When they made their presentation, my biggest regret was that I didn’t bring my management team with me. It was a great professional presentation with some strong data."

Alan Pearce / FasTech LLC

"They did a good job thinking outside of the box. That’s what impressed me the most, was the fresh eyes and fresh perspective from which they looked at the problem. I would do this program again in a heartbeat."

Adam Goebel / Danville Science Center

Benefits for Businesses:

The teamship model provides major benefits for the businesses that participate. With just a five-hour time-commitment, businesses can gain fresh perspectives on difficult problems at no cost, all while helping develop future talent.

Teamship for Businesses

Benefits for Students:

The teamship experience is meant to prepare students for the workplace by providing collaboration and problem-solving skills. The specific problem or business industry is less important than the soft skills that students develop.

Teamship for Students