What an exciting two days in Birmingham! On October 27–28, 2026, during Magic City Classic Week, CAPS Network reached 1,800 students in just two days. That makes it the largest design challenge experience in CAPS history.
Led by Vincent Jackson, CAPS Network K–12 Liaison and Birmingham native, the two days brought together students, educators, industry professionals and community partners for hands-on learning and real-world problem-solving.
Why Magic City Classic Week?
Every fall, Birmingham celebrates the Amazon Magic City Classic, the nation’s largest HBCU football classic, between Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University. The 85th Classic kicked off October 31, 2026, at historic Legion Field.
Vincent chose this week on purpose. It’s when Birmingham students, families and the community already come together, and CAPS was proud to bring two K–12 design challenges into the celebration.
Day one: Amazon Future Forward at Ramsay High School
Day one kicked off at Ramsay High School with Amazon Future Forward, a free career and technology experience for Birmingham City Schools high schoolers. Amazon presented it in partnership with Birmingham Promise, and it was designed with the BCS Post-Secondary Success Department. 1,700 students rotated through three stations during the day.
CAPS led the Amazon x CAPS Design Challenge in the Willie Scoggins Jr. Gymnasium. Student teams pitched a social media post showing how Amazon’s Alexa can help people who are differently abled. At the other stations, students heard a Future Forward career panel on robotics, AI, software development, operations and supply chain, then explored an Innovation Hub with AI racing and robots.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin saw the impact firsthand. During a Magic City Classic press conference, he said the Future Forward event gave “our young people two of the most important things we can give our future college graduates: opportunity and exposure.”
A day this big takes a team. Thank you to the Amazon ambassadors, Birmingham Promise, student leaders from Alabama State University and Alabama A&M University, Birmingham City Schools and every volunteer, table leader, time-keeper and judge who gave their day to Birmingham students. That is over 80 volunteers for the Amazon x CAPS portion of the event alone!
Day two: Academies of Birmingham and Cristo Rey students at Cristo Rey Birmingham
On day two, about 100 students from the Academies of Birmingham joined their peers at Cristo Rey Birmingham High School, formerly Holy Family Cristo Rey. They worked in teams to develop solutions to real challenges faced by two local organizations: Ubuntu Community Gardens and Workshops Empowerment, Inc.
Students did not know what challenge awaited them or who would be on their team when they arrived that Wednesday morning. Teams were assigned one of the community clients and tasked with designing a marketing campaign to drive participation and collaboration between community members and the organizations.
Workshops Empowerment heard solutions that ranged from clever Gen Z-oriented social media campaigns to design updates for their physical cafe location. Students helped Ubuntu Community Gardens by proposing social media campaigns and community engagement events. Both partners left with fresh ideas to put to work.
What is a CAPS design challenge?
A CAPS design challenge is a one-day, profession-based learning (Pro-BL) experience built around a real problem from a real organization. Here’s how it works:
- Students team up with peers they may never have met, practicing collaboration and communication from the start.
- An industry partner presents a real challenge, such as how a local bank can help Gen Z become financially literate.
- Teams use design thinking to ask the client questions, brainstorm and build a solution.
- Students pitch their ideas directly to the partner and get honest, real-time feedback.
- Everyone celebrates the work and reflects on what they learned.
The best part is that nothing is simulated. Partners regularly leave with new ideas they plan to put to work. For students, hearing that their idea made a difference is a big confidence boost. It’s also a first taste of the deeper client-connected projects at the heart of the CAPS model.
Part of Where Students Lead Birmingham
These design challenges are part of CAPS Network’s work through the Catalyze Birmingham Challenge. Catalyze named CAPS Network a grantee to expand Pro-BL to Birmingham students ages 11–18 through client-connected projects with local employers. The work adds to the region’s internships and apprenticeships by bringing industry work into schools.
Thank you to our partners who made these two days possible: Amazon, Birmingham City Schools, Cristo Rey Birmingham, Birmingham Promise and Prosper, host of Catalyze Birmingham.
Only the beginning
These design challenges were more than events. They were about building connections, opening doors and showing Birmingham students that their ideas matter. And this is only the beginning of what CAPS hopes to bring to Birmingham!
Want to get involved? Educators who want to bring a design challenge to their school, and businesses with a real challenge for students to solve, can reach out at yourcapsnetwork.org. Industry partners can also find quick-start guides at experience.work.
Event FAQs
What did CAPS Network do during Magic City Classic Week 2026? On October 27–28, 2026, CAPS Network hosted two days of student design challenges in Birmingham, Alabama. The events reached 1,800 students, the largest design challenge experience in CAPS history.
Where were the Birmingham design challenges held? Day one was Amazon Future Forward at Ramsay High School, where CAPS led the Amazon x CAPS Design Challenge with Birmingham City Schools students. Day two brought Academies of Birmingham and Cristo Rey Birmingham students together to solve challenges from two local organizations.
What is a CAPS design challenge? It’s a one-day, profession-based learning experience. Student teams solve a real challenge from an industry partner and pitch their ideas directly to that partner for feedback.
Who leads CAPS Network’s work in Birmingham? Vincent Jackson, CAPS Network K–12 Liaison, a Birmingham native and Birmingham City Schools graduate.
How is CAPS Network’s Birmingham work supported? CAPS Network is a Round 3 grantee of the Catalyze Birmingham Challenge, which supports career-connected learning for Birmingham-area youth.
How can a school or business get involved? Contact CAPS Network at yourcapsnetwork.org to host a design challenge or bring a real challenge for students to solve.
