EveryoneOn Receives Grant from Best Buy to Continue Digital Inclusion Work Nationwide
Washington, DC (PRWEB) March 22, 2016 -- EveryoneOn has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Best Buy Foundation to help youth living in HUD-assisted housing in six communities. These youth will receive free computing devices along with training in digital literacy and computer coding. EveryoneOn is one of Best Buy’s 16 national nonprofit partners who provide educational resources to help bridge the technology gap among underserved youth to help them prepare for a tech-reliant future
EveryoneOn will work with Best Buy and several private and public organizations to host the #ConnectHome Kids Can Code! program for families living in HUD-assisted housing. As part of program, EveryoneOn will work with Best Buy employee volunteers and Geek Squad Agents at several Best Buy Teen Tech Centers in ConnectHome communities across the country to teach teens how to build their own Kano computers, which they can then take home. These communities will include Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA: Jersey City/Newark, NJ; New York City, NY; San Antonio, TX and Washington, D.C. Tentatively, EveryoneOn plans to distribute at least 600 Kano devices at these training events across these markets in 2016 and 2017. GitHub and Kano will develop customized instructional curriculum specifically for the devices and these training sessions.
“The goal of the #ConnectHome Kids Can Code! program is to help low-income youth build 21st century computer engineering skills by teaching them how to build a computer from scratch and introducing them to coding languages like JavaScript and Python through curriculum taught with the Kano device,” said Chike Aguh, EveryoneOn’s chief executive officer. “We believe that these skills not only prepare these youth for today, but also for the increasing digital only world of tomorrow.”
“As our partners at GitHub have found, these coding programs translate into a life-long interest in coding, which result in approximately 11,000 new coders over the next decade. With these skills and devices, youth and their families can and will be able to participate in the rapidly changing technology-based economy and be able to realize the American Dream,” he said.
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About EveryoneOn
EveryoneOn is a national nonprofit that aims to eliminate the digital divide by making high-speed, low-cost Internet, computers, and free digital literacy training accessible to all unconnected U.S. residents. EveryoneOn has connected almost 200,000 low-income households. For more information about EveryoneOn, visit EveryoneOn.org.
Sarah Graham, EveryoneOn, http://www.everyoneon.org, +1 (979) 877-4713, [email protected]
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