Once again this year, a portion of the EnterCircle entrepreneurship and innovation summit will be reserved exclusively for local high school students seeking to learn more about the world of business and to enhance their career skills.
The summit’s theme for 2025 is “Purposeful Disruption – The Key to the Future,” which may have special meaning for the teens as the future is where they will spend their professional lives.
Presented by the Sapna Foundation, EnterCircle is conducted at the link, an innovative business and community facility in Nocatee. Dates of the summit this year are Nov. 18 through 21. And while Nov. 20 is designated Small Business Day and Nov. 21 is Women’s Day, the first day is the St. Johns County School District Innovation Challenge, followed by the Youth Symposium on day two.
This initiative promotes project-based exploration of innovative concepts, encourages students to apply their creativity and research skills to develop solutions for challenges in the community and the world at large.
The two student-focused days will bring together at least 100 students enrolled in career academies at Creekside and Ponte Vedra high schools, as well as educators and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of innovators.
Participation in EnterCircle will help the students better prepare for the school district’s Project Innovation pitch competition, potentially involving students from all nine of the district’s academies, on Jan. 27 at First Coast Technical College.
During the EnterCircle Youth Symposium, students will have an opportunity to “further refine their ideas by interacting with mentors, business leaders and industry professionals, and this allows them to get some real-world feedback on their ideas, gain insights about what they’re developing and then understand how their ideas or their concepts or the products that they have come up with fit into an authentic business model,” said Emily Matthews, director for Career & Technical Education for the district.
Because EnterCircle falls approximately at the halfway point for the students who are developing their ideas and projects for the school district’s Project Innovation, it contributes toward their success.
Katie Maltby, program specialist for the Career & Technical Education department, emphasized how participation in EnterCircle will enhance the students’ transferrable skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and managing projects.
“All of these skills are central to success in the professional world,” she said.
Engaging with mentors and industry professionals should prove especially beneficial. They will gain perspective from those who started where the students are now and then built successful careers.
The speakers list for the Youth Symposium, Wednesday, Nov. 19, has been released:
In all, the St. Johns County School District offers 29 career academies, and more than 40 individual career development pathways. In addition, the district offers Army, Navy and Air Force JROTC programs; an early college program; a Center for the Arts and much more.
In all, 63% of high school students and 54% of middle school students are enrolled in a CTE (Career & Technical Education) course. More than 5,500 industry certifications were passed in 2024-25.
In fact, parents and students will want to check out the Career & Technical Education website to become familiar with the many options available. Go to https://cte.stjohns.k12.fl.us.
To learn more about EnterCircle’s Innovation Challenge and Youth Symposium, go to entercircle.zone.
