Indiana DOE Approved : Work Based Learning
The In-School WBL Solution Your Students Deserve
The STARTedUP Innovation Accelerator delivers a readymade WBL Entrepreneurial Experience inside your classroom, using your existing staff.
Schools Served
Years Operating
+190
25-75
Teachers Supported
WBL Hours in a Single Year
+8
+168
Providing everything schools need to deliver a high-quality, IDOE-compliant WBL experience.
This program is made possible at no cost to schools thanks to our amazing donors and funding partners.
STARTedUP serves as your school's industry partner, providing the partnership agreement, training plan, competency alignment, and hour verification your WBL coordinator needs. At the end of the term, you receive one clean report from our gradebook system showing exactly which students earned which hours.
Compliance? Handled!
As part of the program, your teachers are supported throughout the year with a full-day workshop, monthly virtual professional development sessions with innovation leaders and STARTedUP Certified Innovation Coaches, access to a statewide network of educators running the same program, and more.
Teacher Training & Support
Students complete this WBL experience within a classroom, using your existing staff and schedule. No external placements, no transportation logistics, no off-site coordination. The program is designed to integrate into your school day without disrupting operations.
In-School Operation
The WBL Entrepreneurial Experience
Students build real ventures in any classroom
Over the term, students identify real-world problems and develop solutions by building ventures. The experience culminates in an in-class pitch challenge, with top teams earning the opportunity to advance to the STARTedUP Challenge, Indiana's most elite high school pitch competition.
Fits Into Any Classroom
We use a modular innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum designed to integrate into a variety of classroom settings, from business and CTE courses to core classes, STEM, humanities, and electives.
Teachers can adapt the modules to fit their content area and instructional style while ensuring students meet WBL competency requirements. Whether it's a standalone ‘innovation class’ or woven into an existing class, the curriculum is built to work with your school's structure, not against it.
Real Deliverables, Verifiable Hours
Every activity, project and assignment is tracked in the STARTedUP gradebook. Students earn WBL credit based on completion and quality of work, creating a clear, verifiable record that satisfies state compliance requirements. From the first day of school to the final pitch in front of real judges, every step is mapped, supported, and documented.
You Choose: From 25 to 75 WBL Hours
We work with each school to create a customized implementation plan based on your needs, student reach, and teacher capacity.
25
Hour Plan
7 modules
1 semester or school year
35
Hour Plan
7 modules
Per Semester | Full Year
50
Hour Plan
9 modules
1 semester or school year
75
Hour Plan
18 modules
Standalone Class
Your implementation plan is determined before the school year begins and documented in your partnership agreement.
Educator Training & Support
The STARTedUP Innovation Accelerator,
Your Teacher's Playbook
The Accelerator is…
a three-level teacher professional development program designed to help educators build innovation hubs in their classrooms. Each level is a one-year commitment with certification earned at completion.
Want to understand the full pathway?
Level 2 is Where WBL Happens
For schools interested in STARTedUP's WBL solution, Level 2 is your entry point. It's a full school year of coaching, curriculum, professional development, and community that gives teachers everything they need to deliver a compliant, high-quality entrepreneurial Work-Based Learning experience.
Teachers who complete Level 2 earn their Level 2 Certified Innovation Teacher badge and have the option to continue to Level 3 for advanced coaching, leadership development, and deeper community connections, but Level 2 is the core WBL experience your school is getting in.
This program includes a full year of WBL support, verified WBL hours for students, an industry partner, and your teacher's Level 2 certification - all happening together over the course of one school year. Teachers don't get certified first and then run the program; they earn certification by running the program with full support from STARTedUP.
Ready to see what Level 2 delivers in detail?
Teachers Receive:
Modular innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum
Classroom-ready resources, templates, and frameworks
Monthly virtual professional development sessions
1:1 support from Innovation Coaches
Access to statewide
network of educators
We've seen it all.
Businesses, nonprofits, inventions, services, and more.
Medical inventions pitched to hospital administrators. Fully-fledged at-home bakeries with paying customers. AI tech companies solving problems adults haven't figured out yet. Civic projects that changed their communities.
Thousands of problems being solved by students who cared enough to do something about them.
The Final Project
A Real Pitch. Real Judges. Real Stakes.
The culmination of this WBL experience is an in-class pitch competition where every student team presents their venture to a panel of real-world judges.
This final moment captures everything students worked on over the course of the term.
Students are evaluated on what they actually built, not what they said they would build. Judges like local business owners, community members, industry experts assess the business they tried to launch, the prototype they developed, the customers they engaged, the iteration they completed.
That's what makes this real Work-Based Learning.
STARTedUP provides everything a school needs, such as judging rubrics, event planning guides, and support from your teacher(s) to run a successful pitch competition in your classroom.
The STARTedUP Challenge
Top student teams can advance to compete in the STARTedUP Challenge, Indiana's most elite high school pitch competition, featuring a $25K prize and the chance to pitch in front of the entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders who make Indiana's innovation economy run.
Student Outcomes
Eight years of building real student entrepreneurs in Indiana.
Students are doing real entrepreneurial work that results in portfolio-ready deliverables and verified WBL credit. We've spent eight years refining what it means to give high school students a genuine entrepreneurial experience, one with real stakes, real deliverables, and real outcomes.
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SpheriLine
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SafetyGlow
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True Blue
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Tailored Bites
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Ruby Campbell-Carpenter & Emma Sanders | AMP Lab at Electric Works, North Side High School, Wayne High School | Region 5
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VisiTube
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Implementation Timeline
We Work With Your School
Every Step of the Way
The Accelerator requires a school’s commitment, and we take that seriously. Our team works directly with you to ensure the program is set up for success, from the first conversation to the final student pitch.
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We begin with a conversation by getting to know your school's WBL goals, existing course structure, and how the Accelerator can best fit in. Every school is different, and we don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Together, we'll build a customized implementation plan designed around your school's specific needs.
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Before your teacher ever steps into the Innovation Accelerator, your administrator and WBL coordinator (if applicable) and the STARTedUP team will work together to build a customized implementation plan that answers:
How many WBL hours are you targeting? (25, 35, 50, or 75 hours)
What's the timeline? (One semester? Two semesters? Full school year?)
How many classrooms and students are participating?
Because this plan remains fixed throughout the year, we encourage thoughtful reflection in your goals and capacity upfront.
Why does this matter? Because the student experience is different depending on the plan. A 25-hour plan covers 7 core modules, while a 75-hour plan goes deeper into all 18 weeks of curriculum. We need to know how to properly support your teacher and verify student outcomes at the end of term.
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Once the implementation plan is set, your teacher is enrolled in Level 2 of the Innovation Accelerator and begins their journey:
First Semester Workshop (or Second Semester Kickoff): Full-day in-person training to set the stage for the year or semester. First semester kickoff will take place in August, and and Second Semester in late November, or early December
Monthly Virtual PD Sessions: A total of nine 90-minute sessions (four during first semester and five during second semester) throughout the school year with innovation leaders, curriculum support, and peer educators
1:1 Coaching Check-Ins: Personalized support from a STARTedUP Certified Innovation Coach each semester
Curriculum Access: Full access to the LMS, modules, resources, and tracking tools
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As your teacher implements the curriculum with students, they're supported every step of the way:
Students complete modules, activities, projects, and Innovation Challenges
Teachers evaluate and document all work in the STARTedUP gradebook
Guest speakers and mentors are brought into the classroom (one provided by STARTedUP, one secured by the teacher)
Students build prototypes, develop business models, and refine their pitches
Teachers attend monthly PD sessions and check in with their Innovation Coach
Everything is happening in parallel. Students are doing WBL work, teachers are learning and growing, and STARTedUP is tracking progress in the background.
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By spring, students are ready to pitch:
In-Class Pitch Challenge: Students will present their ventures to classmates, teachers, judges, and invited guests
STARTedUP Challenge: Top student teams compete in regional and statewide pitch competitions to compete for a $25K prize, mentorship, scholarships and more.
This is where the work becomes public-facing and real. Students are presenting to judges, getting feedback from entrepreneurs, and competing against peers across Indiana.
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At the end of the semester or school year:
STARTedUP runs the gradebook report to verify which students completed which activities and earned which hours
The report is shared with your WBL coordinator, who updates school records
Teachers who met all program requirements earn their Level 2 Certified Innovation Teacher badge
STARTedUP provides the report of student completion to the WBL coordinator
Program Requirements
The STARTedUP WBL experience is built on rigor, structure, and accountability. In order for us to attest to the quality and quantity of the student WBL experience, and certify the hours your students earn, teachers must meet specific, non-negotiable program requirements.
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Teachers must integrate the agreed-upon curriculum modules with fidelity (meaning all components of each module are implemented). This includes:
All course videos. Core instructional content
All case studies. Real-world business examples that ground learning in context
All Innovation Challenges. Structured activities that often bring industry experts into the classroom
All student exercises and activities. From 10-minute reflections to multi-day projects
All major course deliverables:
Prototype or MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Lean Business Model Canvas
Final pitch presentation
All completed activities must be evaluated and recorded in the STARTedUP gradebook by the end of the term (semester or school year, depending on implementation plan).
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Teachers must engage a minimum of 2 guest speakers or business mentors in their classroom over the course of the WBL experience.
STARTedUP provides 1 guest speaker or mentor connection
Teachers secure 1 additional guest speaker or mentor from their own network or community
This ensures students are hearing from real entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry professionals.
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To ensure compliance and verifiable student outcomes, teachers must:
Complete all pre-, mid-, and post-program teacher surveys
Ensure all students complete pre- and post-program surveys
Ensure all students complete the school-issued training plan and partnership agreement within the first few weeks of the term
Document and evaluate all student activities in the STARTedUP gradebook by the end of the term
STARTedUP runs backend reports from the STARTedUP gradebook to assign WBL hour values based on completion and quality thresholds. This report is shared with your school's WBL coordinator, who updates the school's records accordingly.
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To stay supported, connected, and aligned throughout the year, teachers must:
Attend 100% of monthly virtual professional development sessions
At least 70% must be attended synchronously (live)
Up to 30% can be viewed asynchronously within 1 week of the live session
Attend the mandatory in-person workshop at the beginning of the term (August or January start)
Virtual attendance or verified asynchronous completion also counts
Participate in 1:1 coaching meetings with a STARTedUP Certified Innovation Coach each semester
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Consequences of Non-Compliance
We take compliance seriously because your students' WBL credit depends on it.
If a teacher fails to meet program requirements, STARTedUP cannot attest to the quality and quantity of the student WBL experience. In that case, students receive zero WBL hours.
If a student fails to complete required activities or scores below the minimum qualification threshold, they will not receive credit for those activities. For example, if there is no evidence of completion for a 60-minute activity (determined by grades, participation verification, etc.), the student does not receive credit for that hour.
Our Commitment to Your School
We've watched schools transform into hubs of innovation where students live out their entrepreneurial dreams. Where classrooms buzz with real work, and students graduate with portfolios they're proud of, and skills that actually matter.
That transformation doesn't happen by handing you a curriculum and walking away. Our team works alongside your educator all year, providing the training, coaching, and support needed to make this experience unforgettable.
When your students walk across that graduation stage, they’ll have something more than a WBL hours on a transcript. They'll have the problem-solving skills, resilience, and entrepreneurial mindset to tackle whatever comes next.
That's what we're dedicating to building with you.
Ready to Bring This to
Your School?
Whether you're exploring WBL options, looking for a stronger entrepreneurship program, or ready to move fast, we'd love to talk. Reach out and let's figure out if the Accelerator is the right fit.
We'll respond within one business day