Thank you to Benn Farrell, a freelance writer for the Gazette, for his article in The Tribune on Monumental Impact as we were finding our footing in 2020 after COVID restrictions were put in place. We started our nonprofit one month before COVID and yet we still had six interns that first summer that worked remotely to help form and shape our internship opportunities for students interested in technology, engineering and entrepreneurship.
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Inspire the Engineers, Technologists and Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow
We invite businesses and individuals to join us as we build an environment of support and mentorship for the engineers, technologists and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. There are many ways you can participate and you do not have to be an engineering and technology business. The key driver is providing experiences for students in the Tri-Lakes area so they can explore their interests and passions in engineering, technology or entrepreneurship. Below are some examples of participating:
- Contract Us for a Project: Within your business there may be a collection of similar tasks, an implementation or a prototype that you would like to be done. As a student team with mentors, Monumental Impact intends to be poised to help you scope, monitor and complete your project, all while providing engineering or technology experiences to student team members. We intend to have our own capabilities for computer programming and 3D design-to-fabrication. Some examples of projects are:
- Providing an inventory of equipment, technology or software assets
- Putting together a training or orientation media or visualization
- Pulling together data and looking at ways of automating
- Implementing a website
- Implementing or troubleshooting a technology, especially in a business
- Creating CAD representations of a product or parts
- Implementing and providing demonstrations for an event of yours
- Executing a basic cyber security check of your technology infrastructure
- Job Shadow opportunity: A total of 4 hours that can be separated into two 2-hour sessions. Students shadow an individual in an engineering, technology or entrepreneurial job. Students are not doing the work, but are observers and can gain exposure to different types of jobs.
- Join Our Community as a Mentor: From individual projects to being a part of the afterschool programs we support, let us know how much time you are willing to help and what skill sets you are offering. Skill sets we are looking for are project management, engineering (any discipline), technology (hardware & software), product management, customer service, financials and time management.
- Sponsor Us: Let us know if you want to sponsor a skill-building program or an event for us to organize and host. We intend to host events to increase awareness of projects we are doing and provide outreach programs to mentor and build skill sets in our younger talent pipeline.
Please contact us, if any of the above interests you or you have questions. We looking forward to growing a community of support for tomorrow’s engineers, technologists and entrepreneurs!
How did Monumental Impact get its Spark?
In the Fall of 2018, the Pikes Peak Business & Education Alliance (PPBEA) introduced their program to Lewis Palmer School District’s (D38) Business Advisory Council. The program entails connecting businesses, schools and students with industry presentations, tours, job shadows, apprenticeships and internships. After providing a technology project internship to two D38 students in the Spring of 2019, it became clearer what was needed to provide this internship. As a home-based business and a small business, it became even more clear that my business would not be able to provide any additional internships until some enabling and supporting capabilities (Figure 1) was available from our local community, the district or PPBEA.
In the Figure above I’ve identified many of the key management and capabilities that are needed to enable my business and others in providing engineering and technology internships or projects to high schoolers. If a small business or home-based business is unable to provide these enablers, the business is less likely to take the leap. I’ll even expand on this that…if a student does not have the ability to travel the distance to the businesses with these enablers or an environment that provides these enablers, then with their current school schedules THEY will not take the leap. They will probably default to taking on a close fast food or local job that can provide them one of the other drivers in their life…money.
From a Spark to Monumental Impact
From an internship with two high schoolers interested in technology the spark turned into a WHY statement for Monumental Impact:
To enable and support high school students interested in technology, engineering and entrepreneurship with experiences and community.
But knowing how busy high school students are there would need to be a reason for them of WHY be a part of Monumental Impact? As parents and adults we know it is good for them, but their platters are full with things we know is good for them. Then the realization that if we could combine some of their desires into one, it would connect with some students and empower them to take control of their learning. A key element to Monumental Impact is providing an environment where students are empowered to make decisions as a team and follow through with projects that BOTH provide experiences AND raise funds in their combined areas of interests. A key step in providing this empowerment is giving them the space to make decisions and work on projects together (Figure 2) .
In order to work on projects together they need a physical, dedicated space. A place they can call home and that they have a choice in its direction and projects. A place that would have the capabilities mentioned earlier for engineering and technology projects. A place that they could find mentors and community partners willing to enable and support them on project team demands, technology project demands and engineering project demands. Not that the mentors are doing the work, but enabling and supporting them on how to make decisions and how to determine ways to overcome barriers in a project.
The intent is that products, services and events provided by Monumental Impact to the community will:
- Leverage the growing technology, engineering and entrepreneurship skill sets of D38 students,
- Raise funds for afterschool programs and the capabilities of their space that enable their technology, engineering and entrepreneurial community and
- Increase awareness of the technical capabilities and contributions of students in D38.
Evolution of Our Home
We will be meeting in public spaces until we have a dedicated space. We are currently looking for 3,000 SF for 2020 and 10,000 SF as a long-term home. Once a dedicated space has been found, the space will evolve dependent on funding, sponsorships, grants and donations. We will be working to fill the space with office equipment, technology equipment and a fabrication environment with a broad range of tools and equipment such as CNC machines, mills and 3D printers .
Become a Mentor or Sponsor
We are building a community of individuals and organizations to fill roles as a Board of Directors, mentors, sponsors and community project partners that enable and support students for their project deliveries and their compliance with business and safety regulations. If you or your business would like to be a key role into the efforts of Monumental Impact, THANK YOU for your interest! Please contact us. We look forward to connecting with you and get you engaged with our efforts.
Get The Latest News
If you are interested in receiving news from Monumental Impact, especially as students start announcing their services, please subscribe with us through our contact us page and make sure to select ‘I would like to join your mailing list‘.
We look forward to the journey as we get our first efforts underway and begin building our community partnerships!
Jeanette Breton, Founder of Monumental Impact
Hello Monument and the Tri-Lakes Area!
We welcome you to join us in our journey to enable and support the growing talent and passion of high school students in Technology, Engineering and Entrepreneurship with Experiences and Community.
Just like sports, being able to practice and have experiences is critical to success in Technology, Engineering and Entrepreneurship. Even more so, when students don’t know much about the fields, either technically through deep dives or broadly in its use in industry. Our mission is to help narrow this knowledge gap by offering experiences that can enable and support high school students in their discoveries and supporting them in finding their passion.
In addition to industry experiences to find their passion in a future career path, Monumental Impact would like to enable and support many of the D38 Afterschool Programs in Technology, Engineering and Entrepreneurship such as the Bearbotics, CyberPatriots and DECA. Students in these programs can leverage Monumental Impact as a community of support and utilize space, fundraising, events and assets that Monumental Impact is able to gain through sponsorships, grants or student-led fundraising efforts.
Our intent is to provide experiences or connect students to experiences such that their interests and passions in technology, engineering and entrepreneurship can be realized. Many experiences will be provided by Monumental Impact itself through its own fundraising, projects and outreach programs that enable itself to provide services to students. We welcome other businesses to contact us if they are wanting to provide an experience, but need help providing the mentorship or project management efforts.
The opportunities of experiences will change based on needs. Details of all opportunities will be published within the PPBEA’s Marketplace for D38 students. Students should discuss opportunities with their high school counselor then apply to the opportunity through PPBEA.
We are building a network of mentors and project managers in Technology, Engineering and Entrepreneurship that are willing to mentor and facilitate student project experiences. We are also building a list of interested parties that are willing to volunteer, attend events or register their younger talent pipeline for camps provided by these budding technologists, engineers and entrepreneur outreach programs. We are also looking for Board Members to share in the journey and provide direction.
You can find more information on our About. If you have any questions or would like to join our community of Monumental Impact, contact us. We look forward to the journey!
Jeanette Breton, Founder of Monumental Impact