Léman Manhattan students turn AI projects into startups

Léman Manhattan Preparatory School recognized the first class of the Collegio Institute’s AI Entrepreneur Fellowship, where high school students built ventures using artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems. The program highlights how the school is pushing entrepreneurship and AI fluency as core preparation for college, work and startup life. Why it matters: - Léman Manhattan Preparatory School is using AI and entrepreneurship training to give high school students hands-on experience building real businesses. - The program is meant to help students move beyond AI as a classroom topic and use it to identify problems, test ideas and launch products. - The school sees the work as part of preparing students for selective colleges, employers and investors. What happened: - Léman Manhattan celebrated the inaugural cohort of the Collegio Institute’s AI Entrepreneur Fellowship at its first Venture Distinction Awards Ceremony in New York. - Students turned ideas into working ventures through research, experimentation, product development and execution. - The program challenged students to identify market opportunities, build business concepts, test assumptions, create prototypes and present their ventures to entrepreneurs and investors. - Students were recognized through a competitive judging process focused on innovation, market understanding, product design, execution and entrepreneurial potential. - The Fellowship’s top honor, the Grand Venture Scholar Award, went to a venture judged to have exceptional product design, business model clarity, market understanding and execution. The details: - Student projects covered education technology, student well-being, trustworthy AI research tools, creator-economy platforms, productivity solutions, youth employment and college preparation. - Students developed functional businesses, attracted early users and tested whether their ideas addressed genuine needs. - The awards ceremony capped months of work building ventures from the ground up. - Participants built skills in communication, leadership, collaboration, product design and strategic thinking. - The program also taught students that promising ideas need user feedback, revised assumptions and persistence through setbacks. - Don Lively of Collegio Partners said the students are learning how to identify problems and opportunities, build solutions, use AI tools responsibly and turn ideas into something tangible. - Lively said the work reflects why Léman has rapidly emerged as a premier preparatory school. - Léman said the Fellowship is designed to teach students both AI literacy and the judgment to choose worthwhile problems. - Léman said students also need discipline to test assumptions and resilience to improve ideas when the first version falls short. Between the lines: - The Fellowship signals a broader shift in education from teaching students about emerging technology to having them build with it. - Léman is positioning experiential learning as a differentiator, not just academic achievement. - The school is also tying AI education to entrepreneurship, which reframes AI as a tool for creation rather than only automation. - Léman said the goal is to incubate builders, problem-solvers and leaders. - The school said it wants students to shape change, not just adapt to it. What’s next: - Léman said it will continue expanding offerings in artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and experiential learning. - The AI Entrepreneur Fellowship will serve as a model for future-focused education at the school. - The program’s next phase will likely continue emphasizing venture creation, practical execution and applied AI skills. The bottom line: - Léman Manhattan is betting that students who learn to build with AI now will be better prepared for college, careers and the next wave of entrepreneurship.