Thursday, April 24, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Access to Practice
How
do you unleash the pent up demand for opportunity in our young people
who are trapped in circumstances of limited opportunity? How do you
build a path to opportunity?
Think baseball. If we want our youth to learn how to play baseball, we build a baseball field. Think basketball. If we want our youth to learn how to play basketball, we build a gym ... well, a flat surface with a hoop or two ...
Isn't it amazing how little it takes to give a young person the opportunity to learn if they can practice on their own? Like Magic Johnson shooting hoops in the middle of the night at college ... or advice I attribute to Willie Mays, if you don't get out on the field and drop the ball a thousand times, you'll never be a good ball player.
There are huge opportunities in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering, math. For example, skills in coding apps or producing content are gateways to opportunity, and what is more, an individual can gain those skills on their own if they know how to get started AND they have access to practice
... and that is what the Geeks FSO Campus project is all about ... providing "access to practice."
We are creating a learning and training environment so an individual can acquire the skills to create apps and content based on their own motivation to hone their talent and little else ... because we are targeting the youth who don't have much else in the way of help ... young people who want a chance to shot hoops or play catch until they get it right ... because they want the opportunity to do something that pays off ... for them ... personally ... that they want to do ...
So no, it's not for everyone, but it is for anyone who wants it enough to be out there "shooting hoops" whenever they can.
Think baseball. If we want our youth to learn how to play baseball, we build a baseball field. Think basketball. If we want our youth to learn how to play basketball, we build a gym ... well, a flat surface with a hoop or two ...
Isn't it amazing how little it takes to give a young person the opportunity to learn if they can practice on their own? Like Magic Johnson shooting hoops in the middle of the night at college ... or advice I attribute to Willie Mays, if you don't get out on the field and drop the ball a thousand times, you'll never be a good ball player.
There are huge opportunities in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering, math. For example, skills in coding apps or producing content are gateways to opportunity, and what is more, an individual can gain those skills on their own if they know how to get started AND they have access to practice
... and that is what the Geeks FSO Campus project is all about ... providing "access to practice."
We are creating a learning and training environment so an individual can acquire the skills to create apps and content based on their own motivation to hone their talent and little else ... because we are targeting the youth who don't have much else in the way of help ... young people who want a chance to shot hoops or play catch until they get it right ... because they want the opportunity to do something that pays off ... for them ... personally ... that they want to do ...
So no, it's not for everyone, but it is for anyone who wants it enough to be out there "shooting hoops" whenever they can.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Why we are hitting the bullseye ...
"For the Tech-Savvy With a Need for Speed, a Limited Choice of Towns With Fiber" by Kate Murphy, The New York Times, April 2, 2014
"Tech Rivals Lay Down Arms for Youth Coding" By Nick Wingfield, The New York Times,
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