On April 21st, the Future Ready Leaders (FRL) program wrapped up the 2025-26 school year with a celebration where teams came together to share and reflect on the projects they worked on throughout the year. For the fifth year, FRL student team members worked alongside educators to design projects that make college and career readiness more accessible and relevant in their schools.
At the meeting, teams created concept posters to showcase their projects and then participated in a gallery walk and heard short presentations, allowing them to learn about each other’s work. Teams then paired up to have a more in-depth conversation about their projects, asked questions, and gave feedback, which made it an engaging and collaborative experience.
We heard about a wide range of projects, including new and improved college and career fairs, career days with guest speakers, business site visits, career-focused podcasts, career websites, and mentoring programs. It was clear that teams created meaningful and relevant opportunities for themselves and their peers.
One goal of FRL is to build educator and student networks. At the meeting, teams heard from Rotem Guttman from Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute, who introduced a new gaming project focused on cybersecurity. The project is designed to help students with no prior technical experience learn about career pathways in cybersecurity, making the field more accessible. Students were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the cybersecurity game to increase the likelihood of students utilizing the resource.
Also joining us from Carnegie Mellon were representatives from AI IRL: Real Talk with Real Experts, a student-led podcast through the NSF AI Institute for Societal Decision Making. The podcast aims to break down complex ideas about artificial intelligence into simple, relatable conversations about how it affects everyday life. A handful of students were invited to participate by being interviewed and sharing their own thoughts on the future of technology.
Jenn Sethman, Director of Partnerships at the Consortium said, “The energy in the room was great, and it was clear how much thought and work went into each project. We can’t wait to see what teams design next year.”
Future Ready Leaders will continue for the 2026-27 school year, with limited spots for additional school teams. If your school is interested, please contact Jenn Sethman.
