Education Stories
CommunityAmerica teen-led innovation effort lauded for developing college cost calculator
College degrees come with two price tags: the sticker price and the net price. A new free tool from the CommunityAmerica teen advisory board is being celebrated for helping students solve the complicated equation that separates the two — as well as determine which college options are financially realistic. “[With] some of the more elite schools,…
Two KC EdTech startups earn spots in latest LEANLAB cohort; launch set for August
It’s a highly selective process to join the fifth LEANLAB K-12 fellowship, said Katie Boody, but two Kansas City startups made the cut. K12 Perform and Base Academy of Music will join four other cohort members — hailing from the Midwest to Washington D.C. — in the August-to-November EdTech accelerator program. LEANLAB is partnering…
YEP KC teen serves hope through enterprising volleyball benefit for men’s shelter
When 17-year-old Catherine Franano learned the mattresses at Kansas City Rescue Mission were old and too worn for comfortable use, the Pembroke High School senior leapt into action, she said. “Some of these people … like they’ve just had so many awful things happen to them, but not having anywhere to sleep?” Catherine said. “How…
Manual entrepreneurship, refuge: ‘Farming is just the vehicle,’ says BoysGrow founder
“What’s the word?” “Respect!” shouted the teenage farmhands at BoysGrow, a two-year program dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship to urban youth through agriculture and farming. The 10-acre BoysGrow farm outside Grandview plays host to 30 to 40 boys, ranging in age from 15 to 17. They work, eat and learn on the nonprofit farm three days…
LaunchCode partners like VML turn apprentices into professional programmers
Tech fields provide a never-ending learning experience, said Mohammad Rasoulipour, a creative technologist at VML. With a background in design, Rasoulipour turned to LaunchCode to get a leg up in the web design world, try something new — and land a job a premier marketing and advertising firm like VML. LaunchCode, a free tech training program,…
