Next generation Of Work (NOW)

Developing Talent and Innovative Solutions

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) provides real-world learning experiences for high school students and innovative solutions for participating businesses. The Next generation Of Work (NOW) program pairs student teams with area companies that pose open-ended problems for students to solve.

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

2026 Teamship Recap

2025 Teamship Recap

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

The foundation of Teamship by College Board is simple and intentionally flexible: a business or organization presents an open-ended challenge, and teams of students work collaboratively, with guidance from trained coaches, to clarify the problem, gather context and propose actionable 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 interviews with businesses, research and data analysis, students identify the problem and its full context — a critical step in developing potential solutions.

After several interviews and discovery sessions where students try to understand any important causes and context and previous efforts to solve them, 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.

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

"They exceeded our expectations, delivering well-researched solutions with a clear understanding of the problem and how to address it. We plan to implement some of the ideas the students presented. The experience delivered a positive return on investment for our organization."

Matthew Carragher / Axxor

"Each group took a different pathway and solution to the problem. I thought what all the groups pitched was phenomenal."

Rebecca Saunders / Hitachi Energy

"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