Real-world projects in core high school classes, without working weekends
Students partner with organizations to solve real problems using core class content. Sidekick partners with teachers to help them pull it off.
Treat All Kids Like Superheroes
Connect students to the community
Non-profits, universities, companies, and government agencies bring us authentic projects for your kids. We train them to mentor teens then send them to you. Use your time to deepen partner relationships, not find them.
Have the time to personalize learning
Customizable starter projects let teachers save hours without sacrificing control and creativity over what goes on in classroom, so you can build in individual attention or group students by level or learning goal.
Pick the competencies you want to build
We crafted projects to target and test precise sets of academic standards and cognitive, social, and emotional skills then kept you in control of the tasks that build each skill, so you choose where kids struggle and where they don't.
Make teachers feel like they have superpowers
A Sidekick for every teacher
A real person will work alongside your teachers to help plan, customize, and facilitate each project. It's like a student teacher for project-based learning.
Real-world professional development
Sidekick skills up teachers by guiding them through bite-sized activities they'll immediately put into practice on their specific projects
Made to feel familiar
Sidekick translates real-world projects into packets that resemble the curricular materials teachers are used to, so they can lead projects with confidence
No new apps to learn
Sidekick works behind-the-scenes through G Suite, Google Classroom, and more, so the only software teachers need to understand is how to edit a word document
Curious? Discover more in our demo packet.
A previous project, past student products, and more goodies
Engage students while building employable skills
5x
student engagement
In Sidekick's inaugural pilot at a Chicago public school, a pre-/post-test on student engagement found the average engagement score for the pilot class had increased 5 times, effectively eliminating student disengagement.
What Others Say
I have some of my lowest performers in my first period, and I saw them care more about doing the work than I've seen all year.
This project has helped me discover a love for non-profit work. Superheroes help everyone, despite their differences, without expecting anything in return. Non-profit workers are superheroes, or at least they should be. I'm going to explore the non-profit world more and consider it as a potential career path.
I am so thankful for all you've done and are doing for my kids. I can't really believe this is real and I am waiting for someone to "pinch me" because the more I get into the project, the more I feel it's too good to be true.
Who We Are
Catalyzing personal connections through real-world projects
We set out initially to change the story for at-risk youth. That sentiment is still embedded in who we are as we seek to elevate the perception of what 16 million high school students can do.
Sidekick's superpower is crafting real-world projects. They're like pocket-sized worlds: contained yet authentic, small enough to fit into a course unit, made to be places for students to build real, personal connections with people and content. Because a personal connection drives every great superhero.
Like any sidekick, we're great only when the main heroes put us in action. We help schools engage their student and their teachers, simplify competency-based learning, meet state readiness requirements, and provide an alternative, applied approach for struggling or at-risk students. As school leaders, department heads, teachers, community partners, and students assemble to usher in a new normal for education, their Sidekick will be at their sides.
Learn more about our vision, mission, values, and team on our About Us page.