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Monday, October 16, 2017

Verizon Innovative Learning Program

Yesterday, I shared an NBC article on the MommyMaestra Facebook page that talks about how the Latino high school dropout rate has hit a new low while the number of Hispanic students enrolling in college has reached a record high.

Despite this enrollment increase, however, Hispanic students still have a very low college completion rate. Latino males still earn less than 9% of Bachelor's among graduating college students.

And Latinos account for less than 10 percent of the STEM workforce. In today's technology-driven world, that's disappointing. And that's why it's imperative that children get a good education in STEM classes. Because that college degree and subsequent STEM career can make the difference in pulling a family out of poverty.

Did you know that by 2020, 77percent of all U.S. jobs will require the employee to have computer skills? And yet an alarming number of schools in low-income neighborhoods lack the funding or support for technology tools, such as computers or iPads. And who suffers as a result? Yep! Minority students.

So now, Verizon Innovative Learning, the education arm of Verizon Foundation, is focusing on helping Latino students break down barriers in the hopes that they will consider STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers.

They are doing so by expanding their STEM & entrepreneurship program for minority middle school boys in 16 cities including areas with high Hispanic population. The program gives students acess to intensive hands-on courses such as
  • mobile app development, 
  • 3D design, 
  • drone creation and execution, 
  • and development of virtual reality and augmented reality experiences. 
As participants in the Verizon Innovative Learning program, students are connected to college mentors and paired for continued programming during the school year. So far, over 2,000 students have participated in the Verizon Innovative Learning program and the results are awesome:
  • 64% are more interested in attending college 
  • 53% are more interested in STEM careers 
  • 47% feel more confident in what they can do 
Currently there are 4.4 million open tech jobs, but millions of kids don’t even know they exist! 

That’s why Verizon Innovative Learning is giving free technology and tech education to kids in need. 

To learn more and see if there are any programs going on near you, visit the Verizon Innovative Learning website.


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