MilitaryBRATS

01The program

Seven sessions, one build week, one Market Day.

Cohort 1 runs January 18 to April 16, 2027, in Tampa Bay. Cohort size is 10–15.

  1. Mon Jan 18

    No school

    01What You Already Know

    Kickoff on MLK Day. Teens map their own moves, then we rename it as market research and adaptability. They leave knowing they aren't beginners.

  2. Thu Jan 28

    Virtual

    02Find the Problem

    Customer discovery taught and practiced live. Homework: ten real interviews.

  3. Fri Feb 12

    No school

    03Build With AI

    State Fair Day. They feed in their interviews and pull out patterns, stress-test the idea, research pricing, draft copy and label concepts — then learn to argue with the answer.

  4. Thu Feb 25

    Virtual

    04Make One Thing

    Smallest sellable version. Homework: make ten units, or deliver the service three times.

  5. Mon Mar 8

    No school

    05Know Your Numbers

    Strawberry Festival Day. Cost, price, margin, profit. Each teen builds a number sheet and sets a Market Day target out loud.

  6. Sat Mar 20

    Saturday

    06Pop Up Like a Professional

    Booth design, signage, pricing display, how to greet, how to close, how to handle "just looking." Teens build and stage a real booth, then get critiqued.

  7. Mar 22–29

    Spring break

    Build week, no session

    Homework: first real sale to someone outside your family.

  8. Sat Apr 10

    Saturday

    07Dry Run

    Full dress rehearsal. Mentors play customers, including difficult ones.

Fri Apr 16

Market Day

MARKET DAY

They sell in public, to strangers, and keep every dollar. Close by reading total cohort revenue out loud.

Somebody pays them. That's the finish line.

02Why the calendar looks like this

The schedule is built around a high schooler's life.

Four sessions land on days Hillsborough students are already out of school. Two more are Saturdays. Only two touch a school night. Gaps run 10 to 21 days on purpose — a teen needs weeks, not days, to build and sell while also being in high school.

Four school-free days. Two Saturdays. Two school nights.

03Two design decisions worth defending

First dollar before Market Day.
Spring break homework is one real sale to someone outside your family. A teen who has already been paid once walks into Market Day as a seller, not a hopeful.
Market Day is the recruiting engine.
It is public on purpose. The next cohort, the next mentors, and the next host all come from people who watched teens sell something real.
"They build a real business and earn real revenue before it ends, and it's designed so the business travels with them to the next duty station."