North Carolina High Schoolers Trade the Classroom for the Boardroom, Pitching Real Solutions to Real Employers

College Board

• July 6, 2026

As part of Teamship^®, twenty-two students from 19 high schools across 14 North Carolina school districts recently spent seven days doing the kind of work most people encounter well after graduation: solving real problems for real companies, with real stakes. Teamship helps students build durable skills like collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving through authentic, coach-supported experiences.

Students stayed a week in Durham, tackling live business challenges for North Carolina companies, and after preparing solutions, they presented their recommendations to local business leaders. The work culminated in the fifth annual North Carolina Teamship Showcase, hosted by the College Board, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, and SparkNC.

"Too many students don't get to feel what real work is like until they're already out of school and trying to figure it out on the job," said Dan Gonzalez, the cofounder of Teamship who now leads the initiative at College Board. "Teamship flips that scenario. These students did not observe theory from the sidelines-they owned a real problem for a real company and had to defend their thinking to the people who would use it. That's the kind of experience that changes what a young person believes they're capable of, and it's why we're so committed to reaching them while they're still in high school."

Over the course of the program, participating students worked in small teams to dig into a genuine problem facing a partner business-researching, analyzing, and building a set of recommendations the way professional consultants would. Rather than shadowing employees, students owned the work from start to finish: interviewing stakeholders, weighing trade-offs, and defending their thinking directly to the people who would act on it.

Three North Carolina Companies participated in the showcase: Pathstitch, Life'sPilot, and Givefinity.

Pathstitch challenged students to help the company reach new teachers more quickly. In response, students developed a comprehensive outreach strategy that included a plan for sourcing teacher contact information, customizable outreach templates, and an incentive structure to drive engagement. Pathstitch said it plans to implement the students' recommendations.

Students also tackled a challenge from Life'sPilot, a personalized AI care companion for caregivers, families, schools, and clinical teams. The company asked students to address a key hurdle: building trust among users who are skeptical of AI. Students proposed a deeper partnership with the University of North Carolina system, including an internship program designed to strengthen credibility and foster trust with future users.

Givefinity, a volunteer tracking platform that helps individuals and organizations measure community service and volunteer impact, challenged students to find a sustainable way to grow its subscriber base. Their solution was a two-phase strategy: offer the app free to rural schools for the first year, then use the success and data from those schools as case studies to attract larger school districts and student organizations in year two.

"I always feel like I don't belong here," said Tristan Harris, a sophomore at SEA-Tech High School. "But being part of Teamship has made me realize that I have something to say and you might want to listen."

Teamship aligns directly with College Board's AP Career Kickstart initiative by combining career-connected coursework with hands-on, employer-facing experience, giving students meaningful work-based learning opportunities.

For the students, the payoff is both immediate and long-term. Employers say the value runs both ways, and it is why the event has grown since its inception in 2022.

"By the time we get halfway through the program, we forget that they are students, and it's more like we are working with actual coworkers. They bring a fresh perspective to everything," said Dillon Partin, Life'sPilot Chief Operations Officer.

About College Board
College Board reaches more than 7 million students a year, helping them navigate the path from high school to college and career. Our not-for-profit membership organization was founded more than 120 years ago. We pioneered programs like the SAT^® and AP^® to expand opportunities for students and help them develop the skills they need. Our BigFuture^® program helps students plan for college, pay for college, and explore careers. Learn more at cb.org.