Boys and Girls Club Receives Huge Monetary Gift to Boost STEM Programs

Boys and Girls Club Receives Huge Monetary Gift to Boost STEM Programs

The clubs offer a variety of after-school, weekend, and summer programs for young people focused on homework, arts, STEM, leadership, mentoring, recreation and sports, and more. Many of the clubs operate in underserved neighborhoods. As with all of Scott’s previous donations since 2020, the gift is unrestricted.


“Gifts like this are rare and have incredible impact,” Jim Clark, president and CEO of the organization, said in a news release. “It’s a historic moment for our organization and the Clubs that received MacKenzie Scott’s significant support. We know now, more than ever, that with the right support system, positive mentorship, and opportunities, kids can thrive.”

The contribution appears to be part of Scott’s fourth round of giving, which she announced in December. It is also the latest in a series of donations Scott has made to large national nonprofits that have dozens or more local chapters scattered throughout the country that provide services to people in marginalized or low-income areas. Giving to national charity networks is one way Scott’s giving has had a ripple effect in the nonprofit world.

Overall, Scott has given more than $8 billion to nearly 900 nonprofits since 2020. Forbes estimates her net worth at more than $46 billion. Scott wrote in the Giving Pledge letter she signed in 2019 that she intends to continue giving the bulk of her wealth to charity in the coming years. Her husband, Dan Jewett, wrote his own Giving Pledge letter in 2021.

MacKenzie Scott donates $50 million to support USDA youth programs

The National 4-H Council, which supports The Department of Agriculture’s 4-H Youth Development Program, said in a statement that Scott’s gift will support “positive youth development” for nearly six million kids and their families. 4-H programs help kids and teens across the country complete health, science and other projects during after-school programs and other venues.

It’s the second largest gift known to have been made by MacKenzie Scott since she announced last year that she gave $2.7 billion to charitable nonprofits. In the past two years, Scott has given more than $8 billion of her wealth, estimated by Forbes at $45.7 billion.
A fresh approach to integrating technology in park and recreation agencies

A fresh approach to integrating technology in park and recreation agencies

Park and recreation agencies provide flexible learning environments for their students and are increasingly focused on coding, physical science, and innovative STEM programming not typically available to disadvantaged, rural, and low-income children during the school day or at home.

Currently 32 percent of park and recreation agencies around the country offer STEM programming, meaning 1 in 3 park and recreation agencies provide students with the chance to have hands-on experiences in the careers of tomorrow.

Park and recreation agencies can offer students the space to:

  • Explore interests and improve competencies, such as team work, communication and problem-solving;
  • Inspire technological curiosity, improve creativity, and promote deeper critical thinking; and
  • Endow children with in-demand technological skills required for 21st century jobs.

As new technology takes a mission leap into space, on the home front, Digipreneurship University is new carving new inroads to strengthen opportunities that integrate history and STEM. Florida local parks and recreation centers have yet to embrace the digital wave so we pulled together a professional team to enhance options for after-school and remote learning that will allow students to utilize mobile devices with digital displays to engage with area cemeteries, key landmarks, and historical sites through new technology to compare and contrast data. The goal is to create holistic outcomes by engaging students in environmental concerns around climate change, agriculture, as well as mathematics by giving them access to critical data to improve local conditions.

Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2353) was signed into law, reauthorizing the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins Act). Out-of-school time programs, such as those offered by park and recreation agencies nationwide, are vital to preparing students for future employment. Specific provisions of the law that benefit local park and recreation agencies include:

  • Allowance for community-based partners, defined as a “local public organization,” to become eligible entities to receive funding directly to support CTE programs locally.
  • Prioritization of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning programs for underrepresented students, especially those encouraging career pathways for non-traditional careers, such as girls in computer science or coding camps for Latino or African-American students.
  • Allowance for career development activities to start as early as fifth grade (previous limit was seventh grade).

Through hands-on activities, mentorships and internships, students have access to opportunities through their park and recreation agencies that will prepare and assist them in selecting a career path and setting goals for their future.

Dynamic displays connected to live data offer a unique way to communicate your message more effectively and in real time. Whether it is to inform people about occupancy before entering a space, or to manage traffic with smart road-sign systems, any public organization can benefit from this technology to make smarter decisions in near real time.

Digital signage can also be used by cities to better engage with citizens. Informing inhabitants about district events or encouraging people to use shared services displaying closest available city bikes and public transportation throughout the city are tangible use case scenarios. It is also a great way to engage people in small-scale direct democracy with polls on interactive kiosks to get people’s opinion and ideas about daily life topics.


Recently, the bipartisan “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden. It is the largest investment in infrastructure made in nearly a century. Participate in this online learning event to become familiar with this investment and learn more information about accessing the funding. This talk expands on topics that the NRPA public policy and advocacy team covered in the blog, “Breaking Down the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

Objectives:

  1. Become familiar with the federal infrastructure package.
  2. Allow attendees to think creatively about how they might qualify for and access infrastructure investments

New tech partnership brings more educational opportunities

Renewed efforts to bring more tech engagement to our community are underway: InnoPower, Rooted School (Rooted), the Indianapolis Recorder and Eleven Fifty Academy have announced a partnership to improve exposure to technology and light up career paths into the tech industry for African Americans. The shared mission is to create opportunities and a clear career roadmap, from high school to adulthood, for African Americans, who are currently underrepresented in tech.


By reverse-engineering clear pathways to entering the tech workforce, these partnering organizations are working to create a tech talent funnel. Creating change and opening doors to mentorship, internships and open forum discussions on career opportunities for people of color to enter the tech workforce has been a driver of Emil Ekiyor, CEO and Founder of InnoPower.

“Tech is supposed to be the great equalizer. It is projected that the Indianapolis area’s base of tech occupation employment — a subset of net tech employment — will grow by 7.8% by 2026*. We can’t just sit back and hope Black and brown students are prepared for these opportunities,” said Ekiyor, who was born in Nigeria and moved to the U.S. at the age of 15 to pursue his education. “We must create them.”

Community engagement is a major component of the plan, with town halls planned in 2021.

Creating awareness is critical so that people can discover their own potential for a career in tech. Starting young, as with Rooted School, provides students early experience and exposure to highly sought-after jobs in technology. A goal for Rooted School graduates is to go onto college with a sense of purpose and a relevant context for being there. All graduates will leave with a job offer in one hand and a college acceptance letter in the other.

Learn more 

Are Your Students Planting Their Best Social Footprint?

Are Your Students Planting Their Best Social Footprint?

As more new students brace for engaging, interactive learning experiences with new technologies, school administrators are clamoring for new solutions to accurately assess students’ technology skills and capacity for self-guided learning. Digipreneurship University (DU) offers a complete suite of online assessment tools for elementary, middle and high school students to boost outcomes with valid data and reports to help you meet accountability requirements, pinpoint students’ challenges, and identify effective teaching strategies to help students improve.

Real-time Data

DU provides results to help educators and administrators make decisions based on real-time data. Through our partnership with Learning, creators of the Curriculum Foundry Framework for Assessments, DU provides a single state-and district-wide solution that addresses:

  • Getting valid technology proficiency data to support accountability goals.
  • Informing instruction to support improved student technology learning and help teachers plan how to integrate technology into core curriculum.

We deliver three key assessments to easily track, measure and forecast student reading growth:

  • Placement exam measures initial reading ability
  • Optional end-of-book quizzes assist with comprehension, inference skills, and higher-order thinking skills
  • Benchmark tests assess reading growth

Easy to Implement and Administer

Digipreneurship University Assessment can be completed anytime, during a normal class period using classroom computers, a computer lab, or simply from any Internet-connected computer.

  • Includes reports and data sheets from rich media.
  • Can be proctored by classroom teachers as well as technology teachers and coordinators.
  • Online tools monitor student progress during testing.
  • We provide dedicated and ongoing implementation support, including proactive assistance in managing student data, proctor training, and the interpretation of reports.

Demonstrate Student Knowledge and Skills

Digipreneurship University Assessment authentically assesses the concepts and skills in these modules:

  • Spreadsheets
  • Word processing
  • Database
  • Multimedia and presentations
  • Telecommunication and Internet
  • Systems and fundamentals
  • Social and ethical issues

Track Progress and Goals

Through these assessments, reports illustrate reading level, time each student spends reading, quiz results and benchmark scores. Students can track their reading growth through a trajectory report and educators can compare students to the class and district goals.

 

New Education Platforms Power Online Digital Literacy Curriculum

New Education Platforms Power Online Digital Literacy Curriculum

The first stage of Digipreneurhip is Interoperability, the ability of making systems and organizations to work together (inter-operate) or to which systems and devices can exchange data, and interpret that shared data. We understand the challenges faced by most low income families who do not have access to adequate computers, tablets and smart phones. For students and families who complete the Digipreneur training we strive to help provide access to refurbished or new computers and software loaded with educational resources, along with assistance in signing up for affordable broadband and access to 24/7 bilingual IT helpdesk support. These resources extend student learning after school, improve communication between parents and schools, and more fully engage parents in the learning process.

Teacher training is another important component of Digital Citizenship, the basis for our culture proficiency technology program. Career and technical educators benefit from students and parents exposed to Digital Citizenship and Basic Computer skills, especially when they incorporate relevant content into lesson plans to empower everyday choices. Both CommonSense.org and PowerMyLearning.com are platform we use to help enrich the curriculum for students of all ages. E-learning environments are vital to equip teachers with valuable tools to customize instructional materials for kids at different learning levels. With online learning activities tagged by subject, grade, academic standards and other categories, tech educators in more than 30,000 school communities nationwide are empowered more than ever.

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