WIB high school outreach team brings business workshops to local students

WIB’s High School Outreach team visits local high schools across San Luis Obispo County to help students learn more about business, college life and how to start building their personal brand.

This year, the team has held workshops with Paso Robles, Nipomo, New Tech, Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and Pacific Beach high schools. The team is led by Lauren Boersma, VP of high school partnerships, along with Alexa Alegre, director of logistics, Flavia Delle Monache, director of high school activities, and Cayman Stein, director of high school outreach.

The workshops focus on topics such as defining a personal brand, creating a brand and learning about business personality types. For the team, the goal is to give students early exposure to college life and business opportunities.

“I think having WIB get out into the community and have a presence in the community is important,” Alegre said. “And just them getting exposure to college kids and what college life is like.”

Most recently the team visited Morro Bay High School on Friday, May 15. At Morro Bay, about 70 AVID students attended, despite the workshop falling on senior ditch day. AVID is a school support program that helps prepare students for college success.

At the Morro Bay workshop, students participated in an MBTI personality-type activity. Students moved to different sides of the room based on traits such as introversion or extroversion, making the presentation more interactive than a standard lecture.

The team said the workshops also give students a chance to ask questions about Cal Poly, business majors and college in general.

“I feel like when we go on campus, we can help them learn more about business they might not know, and just be a resource for them to ask us any sort of questions,” Boersma said.

For students unsure about business, the team encourages exploration rather than pressure.

“I went into college not knowing at all what I wanted to do, or if I wanted to stick with business,” Delle Monache said. “It’s totally okay to not know and go into college still figuring it out.”

Beyond school workshops, the team also connects with students through larger WIB events. This year, 45 students and 17 mentors attended Wander with WIB, and 45 students attended High School Defining Her Future conference.

Looking ahead, the team hopes to continue expanding its reach and bring more high school students to Cal Poly for workshops and events with Stein taking over as VP of high school partnerships. They currently aim to host at least two workshops each quarter while adapting each presentation to what schools request and will switch to doing three workshops per semester next year due to the conversion.

By visiting local classrooms and sharing their own experiences, the High School Outreach team is making business and college feel more approachable for students who are still deciding what comes next.