You need to know about Tech Spark!
I've been caught up.
So much so that I am...well...stuck. Can't move on from this. It is like I'm caught in a web and can't escape. I'm not talking about any sort of addiction. Nothing like that. It's just that. Well...I use Apple products and I just can't get away from them.
My life is caught up in the iCloud. My personal device is an M1 MacBook Air. I have a MacBook Pro with the touch bar for work. HomePods, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPads, just ordered some AirTags and currently in the market for an old Thunderbolt Display. I'm deep in the world of Apple products y'all.
When Apple dropped their latest line of Macs in vibrant, new colors I took a trip down memory lane. During the unveiling, many saw this:
But I saw this:
I will never forget the first time I sat down at one of these to work in school. The first computer I ever used at school to learn to type or play Oregon Trail was a Macintosh computer! The beige one with the rainbow Apple logo! These colorful beauties would be the next device available to me at school.
My love affair with Apple products began as an elementary aged student. It had less to do with Apple as a brand and more to do with, what was at the time, a new world of technology to me. All I wanted to do was figure out how to do more and more on the computer. But as I got older, I saw teachers reject technology in the classroom. I heard really foolish comments from teachers like, "The internet could be a temporary fad." or "The iPhone will never take off." It became clear to me that, if I thought tech was the future, my teachers didn't agree. In fact, they seemed to resent it.
I wished someone would have told me about all of the amazing careers waiting for me in technology just on the other side of my college education. But no one did.
In high school I had this thought: "Someone should start tech schools where kids get to really learn this stuff."
So you can imagine the excitement I feel when I meet someone trying to build something that lived in my thoughts all those years ago.
Accelerating the future with tech
I am excited to introduce you to Tech Spark, a tech and design school based in Canada with a strong commitment to the empowerment of children of color, girls, women and teachers. YES Tech Spark inspires students AND Teachers through tech and design!
Tech Spark was founded by Tamar Huggins. She realized how important this work is after an award winning career of helping Black and female tech founders raise more than 1.1 million dollars. She knew that if she could help young children of color really see themselves in the tech industry that it could change the game.
Tech Spark offers curriculum design and development, teacher training, corporate training, and student workshops on things like building robots, writing code, or video game design. Suffice it to say that, the school I envisioned as a high school student is happening and it is spectacular!
The world is taking notice too! Tech Spark has partnered with BIG brands like TikTok, IBM and Shopify and been featured in Bloomberg.
The Horizon
As they grow, Tech Spark is developing more and more curriculum, building a young entrepreneurship program and developing unique data solutions to help students get the most out of their learning.
I recently sat down with Tamar and Tim Jones (curriculum writer and Chief Visionary Officer for Hip Hop Ed) to learn more about all of the work they are doing with Tech Spark. They are so amazing that I am taking the whole month of May to run a Tech Spark series on Schoolish.
So catch the first installment of that series TODAY and every Thursday after anywhere you get your podcasts!
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Thanks for reading this edition of Schoolish: The Newsletter. I really appreciate you being here.
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