MOUSE offers opportunities for youth to develop skills and dispositions that can translate into the workplace and apply across professional settings. The program trains youth to join teams of help desk experts who provide technology support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience. In school, youth receive the opportunity to lead in the field of technology, cultivating skills, and strengthening identities as valued contributors in technology-driven environments, in preparation for the careers and workplace that they would eventually enter. MOUSE explains that their “goal has always been to capture the milestones that emerge along the way as points of reflection (and as wayfinding devices) that empower the user to pursue pathways forward and demonstrate their expertise in learning and professional contexts where not enough of their experiences are being counted” (HASTAC MOUSE Q&A). By introducing youth to communities of practice, MOUSE enables them to gain exposure and develop their skills and teamwork in an age-appropriate professional work setting. The program extends students’ experience after school by connecting them with a peer community with shared interestsy support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience.