UF summer program for high school students kicks off Sunday

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida will host 41 accomplished and highly-motivated high school students during the UF Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Sustainability (YELS) summer program.

YELS is the only summer program in the United States developed specifically for high school students to learn about entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, leadership and sustainability. Participants will complete two college-level courses, perform more than 80 hours of community service at various sites in the Gainesville community and meet successful entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Evening programs include a speaker series featuring notable leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, a mentor program with prominent local leaders involved with entrepreneurial and sustainable efforts and field trips to innovative local businesses such as Fracture, the Sid Martin biotech incubator, Citizen’s Co-op, the Downtown Farmers Market, and Sweetwater Organic Coffee Roasters exposing students to a diverse array of sustainable and leading businesses and practices.

In sum, participants will complete more than 3,500 hours of community service in the Gainesville-area in five weeks.

Students will be participating in community service activities with local and national organizations including Alachua Conservation Trust, Forage Farm, Repurpose Project, Gainesville Compost, YOPP, Gainesville Harvest, Florida Organic Growers, the Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention, and Siembra Farms.

The program concludes on Friday July 25 with an Awards Lunch Celebration in the President’s Suite of Emerson Alumni Hall. The students will be joined by their family members as well as local community members who contributed to the program’s success.

The program is sponsored by UF’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, in partnership with UF’s Center for Pre-collegiate Education and Training, UF’s Office of Sustainability, UF’s Center for Leadership & Service, and the UF Innovation Academy, and is staffed entirely by undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

Visit UF Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Sustainability for additional information on the program.