More than 100 high school students spent a week at Aggie Square this summer sharing ideas and exploring new possibilities. Whether they were interested in coding, entrepreneurship, content creation or simply discovering a new passion, they found opportunities to learn by doing. During one week of experiential learning, they transformed those ideas into real-world projects while exploring future careers in one of Sacramento's newest innovation hubs. 

This inaugural summer featured three one-week programs: Digital Media for Aspiring Creators and Influencers, Engineering the Future: Robotics Exploration and From Ideas to Entrepreneurship: Starting Your Own Business. 

Located at the innovation district on the UC Davis Sacramento campus, UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education's Summer at Aggie Square gives high school students hands-on opportunities to explore exciting fields through instruction from industry experts. 

Learning by Creating 

Students turned their ideas into action—producing original videos, coding a robotic arm, developing app prototypes and pitching business ideas. 

“We got to make a script and then we had to record and edit it,” said Kylie, who participated in the Digital Media course. “It was my favorite part.” 

“It’s been really cool to workshop an idea,” said Theo, a student from the Entrepreneurship course. “We worked on an app, and it was cool to go through the process.” 

Lucas, who is interested in business and how to manage a startup, took the Entrepreneurship course to further explore the topic. He said designing a prototype and pitching it to investors was the coolest thing he did in the course. 

For Avyay, it was the Robotics Exploration course that piqued his interest. 

“I'm on my school's robotics team, and I wanted to learn more about the electrical and programming side of robotics,” he said. “Everybody got to build their own robot. I got a lot more hands-on experience instead of having to take turns on one robot.” 

For students with little or no prior experience, Summer at Aggie Square provided a welcoming place to explore new interests through real-world application. 

“Learning how to code was a foreign concept to me,” said Noah, who participated in the Robotics Exploration course. “So being able to learn it from scratch here is pretty cool.” 

Solving Real Problems 

Every project began with a problem to solve. Whether they were designing content to capture an audience, programming a robot to complete a task or developing a business idea around a customer need, students learned that innovation starts by understanding real-world challenges. 

In Digital Media, students were challenged to tell a story that captivated their audience from beginning to end. 

“The coolest thing I learned is how to hook in your viewers in the first couple seconds of your video,” said Kylie. 

Aminah was inspired to use her storytelling skills to challenge fast fashion. 

“I’ve been thrifting for years,” said Aminah. “But joining the program allowed me to use my voice to share how I feel about the environment and try to be an influencer myself to encourage thrifting.” 

In the Robotics Exploration course, students learned to use sensors to find an object for their robot to locate, pick up and drop into a bin. 

“I like to solve problems, so I decided this program was a good way to do it at a higher level,” said Noah. 

In Entrepreneurship, students had to identify a need that their startup or product could fill. 

“I learned that entrepreneurship is not always about the idea you have but who you can market it to that’s important,” said Theo, who enrolled to learn more about what entrepreneurs really do. 

“Learning about severity and urgency—how badly someone wants a product and when they want the product—was really great because sometimes there's just something that people don't need, and then you realize they don't want to buy it,” said Allie, who is interested in business and marketing. 

Students developed ideas ranging from a custom pointe shoe app to a study tool that blocks distractions and an app that helps sports fans better understand controversial referee calls. Along the way, they discovered that innovation isn’t about having the perfect idea but the process of testing, revising and improving it. 

By tackling real-world challenges, students gained a deeper understanding of the creative process and analytical thinking used in engineering, business and digital media careers. 

Discovering Future Careers 

As students gained practice and developed technical skills, their confidence grew and they were able to see themselves in future professions. 

“I wasn’t really sure what the program was going to be about, but once I started, I really fell into it,” said Aminah. “I feel good about content creation now.” 

After completing the Robotics Exploration course, Sydney said, “I’m thinking strongly of going into engineering, maybe aerospace engineering.” 

For some students, the experience reinforced an existing career goal. For others, it opened the door to possibilities they hadn't previously considered. 

“I was hoping to figure out a direction for my major,” said Tony. “This has definitely helped. I think entrepreneurship is a great pathway to many things like finance and business majors.” 

The Confidence to Keep Creating 

Beyond the projects they completed and the technical skills they gained, students left Summer at Aggie Square with something even more valuable: greater confidence in their abilities and a clearer vision for the future. 

“I've had so much fun this week,” said Sloan. “I would definitely come back.” 

“It’s a good location, the building is new, the facilities are really cool and the people and instructors are very nice,” said Avyay. 

Students consistently rated the inaugural courses highly. Ninety-six percent of students rated their experience as good or excellent and almost 90% said they would definitely or probably recommend the program to others. 

Students also praised the instructors, with nearly 98% agreeing or strongly agreeing that instructors helped them learn and actively participate in the program.