 Welcome to Nicole's Review. Nicole's Review, we feature talk that matters. At Nicole's Review, we took a break last year. We are back, people in Arlington. We are back. I know you've been waiting for this for the longest time, and we are back for you. Arlington, ACMI, we are back. And this third episode today, we have two special guests. It is such a great honor to have my two very, very first guests for my third episode. I have David Sellers and Maya. Help me with your name. Nitzberg. Nitzberg. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show for my very first episode and the third season. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you. So, let's start. Tell me a little bit about both of you. Who wants to start first? I know I have two of you. Yeah. My name is Maya Nitzberg, and I am the development and communications coordinator at The Possible Project. And my name is David Sellers. I'm the makerspace education coordinator for The Possible Project. Very good. I am so excited to have both of you on the show today. We have so much to talk about. Should we start? Yes. Okay. Let's do it. All right. Tell me a little bit about what your project do with your organization's day four. Yeah. So, The Possible Project is an entrepreneurship program. It's a non-profit and after-school program located in Cambridge. And we teach high school students how to start and run their own business. Wow. Anything, David? Yeah. So, our, let's see, we're a start-up. We're in our 50-year now. FIFT. Yeah. Our program has a, let's see, four major components to it. So, we have an entrepreneurship curriculum that we teach to our students. We're, I think you mentioned, we're a three-year program. The students start with us their sophomore year and they stay with us through their senior year. And so, for about a year and a half, we have a fairly structured curriculum where they're learning various types of business concepts. And then the latter year and a half is more independent driven, where they're working on their own business operations. So, that's the second component is all of our students are running their own businesses. And so, about every other month or so, we have a marketplace for our students to sell their wares. Wow. So, we've got students who are, let's see, they've got businesses where they're making soaps. We've got students who are selling hair care products, candles, jams, custom iPhone cases. Whole range of products. Yeah. That's amazing. Now, what are the range of the ages for the students? So, these are high school students. They start in their sophomore year. They come to the program, whether by word of mouth. We have a lot of students who come and they're like, I want to join this program. It sounds like we have a really beautiful space you walk in. It feels like a professional work environment, but it's also, it feels like a shared work environment as well. So, it's very bright and colorful. And teenagers love coming to our space. So, they talk about it with their friends. So, we have high school students coming in asking to join our program. But then also, teachers and counselors and people at schools nominate students to be in the program. So, they come in, as David said, in their sophomore year and they're with us for three years through a sixth level program. That's interesting. Now, anything special that you're working out at this moment that you'd like to share with us? Yeah. So, we are currently in, as David said, in Central Square. Oh, yeah. So, we're right between Harvard and MIT. Okay. And we are currently serving about 150 students. And in a year, we're able to serve 220, but that's just not enough. We need to, we want to serve more students. So, we're looking to expand to another site that's larger. So, in from a 5,000-square-foot space to a 9,000-square-foot space. So, now we'll be able to serve over 350 students, which is really exciting. That is exciting. Now, where exactly the address? Where are you located at? Right now, we're located at 955 Massachusetts Avenue. Oh, you're in Mass Ave. Mm-hmm. Okay. Wow. Yeah. But we also have a maker space, which is located at 107 Portland Street in Kendall Square. Okay. Now, the project called The Possible. That's it. The Possible Project. Now, tell me about this. Now, why The Possible Project? Why you picked the name? What's the meaning of that? Oh, no. He's laughing. So, yeah. Well, when our program was started, we had the, we wanted to make sure that students felt like anything was possible. Okay. The students that we target are, so we seek out students who we believe have untapped potential, sort of the silent middle. So we feel like there's a lot of resources out there for students who are really, really struggling and for students who are really excelling. But those who are, you know, getting Cs, maybe some Ds who are kind of coasting through without some special help, whether from their families or community organizations, they can kind of end up falling through the cracks and not get the help that they need to really get them to where they could be. Wow. Our program, we target students who are low income, who are on individualized education plans and who are recent immigrants. It's very touching. And so we want to, you know, we want our students to know that anything is possible and to sort of, yeah. By starting these businesses, we're teaching them entrepreneurship. And we're saying that, you know, through entrepreneurship, we're providing the tools for the students to be able to get into the vehicle so that they're gaining that toolbox of skills so that they compete in the 21st century economy. So anything is possible. That's such a great tool to have, you know, mentally for the student to know that they can learn that and go out there and be something and do something. Yeah. So a lot of these students, like, they don't feel, you know, that they have the ability to go in and, you know, they'll graduate from high school, but then what? What are they going to do after they graduate from high school? Right, college, a training program. Are they going to go into a job? What job would that be? But through the program, they're able to augment those skills like leadership and teamwork and resilience and then be able to take those skills and really, you know, succeed later on after they graduate from high school. Okay. Now describe one of your greatest accomplishments that you, anyone? Can you just describe what you're so proud of? You like to share with me today. And the viewers. All right. And the makerspace. The makerspace. Oh, yeah. So the makerspace is probably the newest addition to our program. This is our first term really operating from outside, out of the makerspace. Yeah. And so far it's been going really well. So the intent behind the makerspace was, well, there's a few different parts to it. So programmatically, we have a lot of students who are making products. And so we wanted to enhance that. So originally we had students who want to do things like make a custom T-shirt, but then they'd order, like they'd create an image and they'd upload it online and then they'd wait for it to be delivered and they'd mark that up to like $20 and try to sell that. It's very expensive. And so we wanted, since our students were already trying to create stuff to sell themselves, we wanted them to be closer to that manufacturing process so they got a more comprehensive understanding of the design and production process as it pertains to entrepreneurship. So at the makerspace we have a laser cutter. We've got 3D printer. We have a vinyl cutter and heat press and spray booth. And these are all tools that allow our students to create products that kind of are not too above what they'd be able to do just on their own. Right. And it's also a space where, you know, there's a concrete floor, there's wooden tables that are easy to sand down and so they can feel free to get more messy and experiment and prototype without worrying about scuffing up the tables and spilling stuff on the carpet. Also we want our students to have, with the students that we're working on with, we want them to have skills that will separate them from their peers. And so at the makerspace they're able to learn 21st century skills like engineering and design and digital fabrication using professional design software like the Adobe Creative Suite or SOLIDWORKS. And so that way where they can add those to their resumes and they'll have a portfolio that they can use to apply to colleges to apply to internships after they finish with us when they graduate from high school. Right. Now, how do you feel about the community? How are the responses that you get from the communities? Well, I mean, one of our biggest achievements has been our relationships with the schools. So we are working with the three high schools in Cambridge. So that's Cambridge and Gillette and Community Charter School of Cambridge and Prospect Hill Academy. And we work really closely with those skills, with those schools. And, you know, it's really important for us to keep that communication going. So, you know, we have a lot of students coming from those schools. We are reaching 45 percent of the target demographic of sophomores in Cambridge. It's huge. And so, you know, we think or we hope that, you know, they see us as a positive organization in the community that we're bridging, you know, the Cambridge residents or the greater Boston community with the tech and innovation hub that's happening in Cambridge. I mean, we're surrounded by all these resources like MIT and Harvard and, you know, this is such a hot spot for companies to come in. But we want to bridge the gap between, you know, the populations that we're serving and the companies, like, you know. Yeah, and so I'd say that that works definitely being recognized. So we have a partnership with the Cambridge Housing Authority and that's actually the property that the maker space is running out of is the Cambridge Housing Authority. Right there. And so they want to partner with us specifically for that reason because they want to create more of a bridge between the Cambridge residents and the tech hub that's right across the street. Right. And actually, so Biogen and Cambridge Housing Authority. Oh, Biogen's right there. Oh, you have it all there. Yeah, they both sponsored the renovation of our maker space. So you're getting a lot of responses from different people that I want to involve. We have various events throughout the year. So we invite local business executives and local business owners to come in and listen to our students pitch their business ideas and they're there to provide their guidance and feedback so that our students can learn, you know, what to do differently. It's part of the whole critical thinking process. It's part of being an entrepreneur, you know. And that's a big part of our organization as well. Really trying to connect our students with local professionals, local businesses and, you know, get them to network with those people, get exposure to those professional settings and the professionals themselves. That's good. So it's a really big, you know, proponent of our program to connect with the community. Wow. Now, who are your targets? Who are our targets? Our students. So the demographic is our high school students who are recipients of IEP, who are recent immigrants. We have a lot of students who are coming from Haiti after the earthquake. Wow. Students like David said that are in that quiet middle. So these are students who are getting season D's in school who will most likely graduate from high school, but they're not sure what comes next. And so we're helping them to, you know, see that anything is possible. Wow. Yeah, along those lines. So a lot of our students are like the first ones in their families to go to college. And so a lot of them aren't necessarily thinking that college is a place, like it's just not part of their thought process, that that's what they would do after high school. Exactly. And so one of the core components of our program is pathways. And so we want, we have it integrated within our program to help our students start thinking about what are they going to do after high school? Is it going to be college? Is it going to be a training program? Is it going to be an internship? Is it going to be a job? And then we help them find the resources that they need in order to make that happen. And so we've gotten a lot of scholarships for our students. Yeah. We've gotten them into many colleges. Yeah. And there's a lot of students in our program who never believed they would go to college. And they had people at schools or in their communities who were saying, you don't have the grades to go to college. And so they come to our program and we're saying the complete opposite. We know you can get in. And it's ultimately what you want. That's what's positive. Yeah. And these are students who got in. We have one student who's a recent immigrant from Haiti who didn't believe that he would ever go to college. Now he's at Ben Franklin Institute and he's doing amazingly. He's been driving throughout that year. And now he just got a job. He was promoted as a sales associate at Home Depot. That's amazing. This is one of the many stories of our students really achieving success. Now, how do you communicate with a bilingual student? Do you? Well, it's just, I mean, sometimes it's difficult. But they're with us for three years in the program. And a lot of the program is for them to articulate their business ideas. Yeah. And writing a business plan and providing the business, the deck. Yeah. Where they're pitching their businesses in front of people. And it's a lot of public speaking. So they're learning English and... Second language. Yeah, exactly. And they know that, you know, when they come in. Now, where do people get all that information? You have a website. Oh, everywhere. We don't have it. Where can you share with the viewers? Where is Wiccan? Somebody get the information. You know, if somebody want to apply or if we have student in Allington that like to get involved. Sure. You like to share with the viewers. Sure, yeah. So you could... One of the best places is to go to our website, which is possibleproject.org. Okay. We're also on Facebook and Twitter. On Twitter, we're at the POSPRAGE, P-O-S-S-P-R-O-J. Okay. And on Facebook, you can just search for the possible project. Okay. And we're always looking for volunteers. Okay. And we have events all the time. So we published that on our social media platforms. One event is a marketplace where our student businesses will put out all of their products on a table and invite the community to come and interface with our student businesses. So anybody's welcome to that. And we've got two marketplaces coming up. We've got a marketplace coming up on June 11th and... June 26th. Yep. June 11th and June 26th. I keep trying to pull that. Sticker. Right? But it's like sticky. The possible project, everyone. Excellent. I am so pleased to have both of you on the show. And anything you'd like to share with us? Anything possible? Anything that you'd like to say at all? The student in Arlington that'd like to get involved in the program? Like anything that you'd like to share that make them come up to see you guys? If you have a vision and if you're passionate about something and if there's a problem that your community is facing, you can be a part of solving that problem. David? Yeah. That's great. Yeah. I think in our students it's been really inspirational to see just how much the program means to them. There's a just by virtue of us saying to them, you know, we require them to start their own business and just see, like, I don't know, it's not like, oh, I can. It's like, oh, I have to. But they have the freedom to do whatever sort of business they want. And having that, the resources to make that happen I think is really empowering and definitely shows in their confidence, their motivation. They start walking a little taller. Yeah. It's really interesting. It's nice to see them grow over three years with us. Thank you for coming. I really appreciate having you both. Thank you for having me. Such a wonderful project. And I thank both of you. And I thank your father for referring me to you. And I thank ACMI for allowing me to come back to have my third episode. The Nichols Review always love to have great guests. And stay tuned for more Nichols Review. We have great guests coming. We'll see you next time. Thank you for watching. Nichols Samarko, your host, The Nichols Review. Thank you.