[markolschesky]

I feel like you're already using the right term, just applied to the wrong group of people in your organization.

When I read your post, I thought about Resident Advisors in college and it seemed like an apt comparison. When I was an RA, I wouldn't say that my residents were my students. They learned things from me, but I also learned things from them too. I had some wisdom, but it didn't really come from a place of power. We were mostly peers, just I had the keys to their rooms when they were locked out and mediated disputes.

I feel like you should call your current residents advisors and your participants residents;residents of the hacker school