K-12 Education
The Encova Center promotes an entrepreneurial mindset in the next generation of West Virginians by supporting collaborative K-12 statewide initiatives and entrepreneurship curriculum and by hosting the annual Statewide High School Business Plan Competition.
COVID-19 Resource: Hyperloop at Home
Virgin Hyperloop One is providing families with weekly STEM activities to "bring a smile to our day and keep our children occupied for 30 minutes."
West Virginia Statewide High School Business Plan Competition
Encouraging young minds to solve West Virginia's greatest issues. The West Virginia Business Plan Competition provides high school students around the state the unique opportunity to learn how to move a business idea from conception to action with the support of the state institutions. make a business idea come to life with the support of state institutions of higher education and seasoned business professionals from around the country.
Impact Challenge Resource Package
Working in multidisciplinary teams, students consider Appalachia's greatest challenges and crate scalable, innovative pathways to help move WV Forward. This program was designed to be implemented into any school or classroom.
Contact us for a free playbook and assistance launching.
Impact Challenge Weekend
The WVU Impact Challenge is an immersive weekend experience that gives students the opportunity to work in teams to define solutions for West Virginia’s most pressing challenges. Students learn how to create profitable, scalable business models to solve important problems, and pitch their ideas to judges to compete for prize money.
Forge Ahead Pitch Competition
Engaging West Virginia's youth to pitch ideas to improve their community by forging ahead. This pitch competition is open to students K-12 in West Virginia.
Health Sciences & Technology Academy (HSTA)
The Encova Center partners with HSTA each year to teach students about entrepreneurship, business models, and how to pitch a business idea. High school students during their annual summer camp learn important business concepts in a hands-on environment.
Learn More about HSTALemonade Day
Elementary and middle-school students learn the basics of how a business is run and then put that knowledge into action by running a lemonade stand for a day to benefit a local charity. The Encova Center partners with the CEO Club to host Lemonade Day every spring.
StandWatch Academy's i3 Entrepreneurship Course teaches the agility, self-reliance, and innovation skills that every high school student needs to succeed in today's world. Using a tested curriculum developed over the last four years, StandWatch Academy's i3 gives students the confidence they need to set goals, become leaders, start businesses, and do the hard things that make the world a better place.
Innovation Tours
Students of all ages are welcome to tour WVU! Students and teachers can tour the WVU Crossings Building which includes the HIT Lab, Media Innovation Center, Maker Space and LaunchLab. Tours of Vantages Ventures are also available upon request.