Education Stories

Paradise EDU at Paradise Garden Club

Just another day in Paradise (EDU): Urban nursery turns soil to nurture STEAM students

When learners dig into the Paradise Garden Club STEAM program, they unearth non-traditional learning opportunities in a classroom cased in chlorophyll.  “It starts on a very base level — using your hands to work with raw soil,” said Jessica Teliczan, owner and operator of Crossroads-planted Paradise Garden Club, teasing the newly launched effort — formally branded…

Brad Starnes, Splitsy

Splitting time between student, entrepreneur lives earns Splitsy co-founder top UMKC honor

Recognition as UMKC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year is a reminder that innovators often begin early, said Brad Starnes, one of Kansas City’s most-talked-about emerging young startup founders. “When I was about 8 years old, I submitted a drawing to an engineering firm,” said the co-founder of Splitsy, a bill splitting app that launched its…

Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox

Return on investment: Why the co-founder of tech giant Dropbox just donated $500K to Blue Valley schools

Blue Valley schools, teachers, and students are expected to benefit greatly from a newly announced fund launched by the homegrown Johnson County tech entrepreneur who later co-founded the cloud storage giant Dropbox. Arash Ferdowsi, a 2004 graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, has put up $500,000 to launch the Arash Ferdowsi Fund, which benefits…

Neelima Parasker, SnapIT Solutions, speaks during an announcement event with WSU Tech and Groover Labs in Wichita; photo courtesy of WSU Tech

She’s on a mission to boost the region’s tech talent; SnapIT’s new office in Wichita is the next step

Overland Park-based SnapIT Solutions has expanded its promise to deliver high-quality technology job training and educational services into Wichita, Neelima Parasker said, detailing a new partnership between the information technology firm and Wichita State University.  “The IT side of the tech industry is now more in demand than ever. … I want to maximize Kansas’…

Nikil Ragav, inventXYZ

New in KC: How Travis Kelce lured Pennsylvania startup inventXYZ (and its team) to Kansas City

Editor’s note: New in KC is an ongoing profile series that highlights newly relocated members of the Kansas City startup community, their reasons for a change of scenery, and what they’ve found so far in KC. This series is sponsored by C2FO, a Leawood-based, global financial services company. Click here to read more New in KC profiles. Nikil Ragav’s journey to…