BLUE INNOVATION PROGRAM

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM

Middle and High School Students + Home School Only (Grades 6-12)

January 9th-10th 2026 - Kick-Off Innovation "Sprint" 

Friday (4:30-8:00pm) Saturday (8:30am-4:30 pm)

Weekly thereafter Tuesdays, 4:00pm-6:30pm; 6 sessions

$150/student for the Program 

Thanks to CoastX donors, a limited number of scholarships are available for students with proven financial need. Please email info@CoastX.org

Drop-off/pick-up Location: 

Kittery Community Center, Kittery , ME

REGISTRATION OPENS NOVEMBER 1, 2025 to DECEMBER 15th 2025 or until all 24 registrations are sold out. We will also create a wait list.

CLICK THIS REGISTRATION LINK

OVERVIEW: The highly anticipated launch of the CoastX Blue Innovation Program is finally here. Designed and developed by 3-time successful entrepreneur and former Executive Director of UNH's Nationally acclaimed Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter), Ian Grant and Traip Academy Experiential Learning Coordinator, Susan Johnson, who has coached students to success at the Maine Venture Fund Business Plan Competition and the Changemaker Collaborative.

The program is designed to be fun and fast! Sparking curiosity and strengthening students’ problem-solving skills as they create solutions to real ocean-based challenges. 

Throughout the program, students will meet with entrepreneurs making waves in the blue economy to inspire and educate…  By the end, every student will have learned the full ideation and prototyping process and cultivated an entrepreneurial mindset—tools that will serve them well for their next big idea and throughout their life.

KICK-OFF SPRINT WEEKEND

This required 1+ Day "Sprint" is being led by nationally awarded innovation facilitator Erika Haskins who has worked with over 150 college and schools to provide a fun and engaged sprint workshop that will include hands-on experience in problem identification, ideation, idea validation, and early stage development with a team presentation at the end.  

Teams (2-4 students) will be segmented by middle school and high school, and with students who share the same interest and passion for the idea for a product/service/company to solve the problem they have identified.

Each Team will have 1-2 mentors (previous or current entrepreneurs who have started companies)  to work with students over the duration of the program to guide the process.  

All students will have access to ocean-oriented subject matter experts to ask for advice and insights as they develop the team idea.

6 Weekly Tuesday Sessions 4:00pm-6:30 pm

• January 13th, 20th, 27th, 
• February 3rd, 10th
• Weeks of ME and NH February vacation, no meetings. Teams work on an idea on their own.
• March 3rd final prep and presentations

 After-school sessions will be broken into three parts:

1. Guest speaker: An ocean-related entrepreneur will share their story about how they solved a problem they identified and their journey to create their current company/product. Q&A at the end. 

2. Group Skill Overview Development. In each session, one of the entrepreneur leads will provide an overview of key work aspects necessary for any innovator to continue developing and validating the idea.

3.  Team work + mentor time. Teams will work on the necessary building blocks from customer discovery to prototype development.  Possible trip to makerspace for those teams requiring that level for a prototype. 

WEEKLY HOMEWORK

Teams and mentors will decide and write down what progress and activities have to happen over the course of the next week to stay on track to finalize the product or service

March 3rd

• 90 minutes for teams to make final changes and presentation preparation.
• 90-minute presentations open to family and friends. Judges to award prizes.
• Celebration!

National Idea Competition: Students can elect to continue on their project and be coached to enter a national business idea competition.  An excellent experience and story to tell for applications!

Fee includes: CoastX T-Shirt and hat, transportation to possible off-site locations like makerspace/companies (still TBD)

Will include Pizza in each session. If your child has any food restrictions, we suggest that they bring their own snack/meal.  Students should bring their own water