Education Stories
High school student wants to secure a better world for girls in STEM
In 2015, Ruby Rios — sophomore at Bishop Miege High School at the time — arrived late to the first day of her college-level computer science class at Johnson County Community College. “I got lost, so I walked in late wearing my high school uniform in a room full of 30 college guys,” Rios said….
UMKC and Rockhurst HS team up to add entrepreneurial thinking to curriculum
Although education innovation continues to grow in Kansas City, there is a visible gap between the “school world” and the “real world,” said Greg Owsley. “The school world and real world shouldn’t be separate entities — they should be connected,” said Owsley, STEAM director at Rockhurst High School. “It’s a very exciting time to be…
BoysGrow teaches urban youth entrepreneurship through farming
BoysGrow, a mentoring program that teaches urban Kansas City boys entrepreneurship through hands-on agriculture, isn’t successful based on what the teens harvest, John Gordon Jr. said. It’s all about the soft skills they learn on the South Kansas City farm. “These boys are young,” said Gordon, founder of BoysGrow, noting the two-year program accepts students…
Tips for overcoming experience gap, building a diverse workforce
When Ariel Banks graduated from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 2014 with a chemical engineering degree, she felt qualified and eager to jump into her career. Unfortunately, Banks spent nearly two years without any luck in finding a job. She found herself being asked time and time again, the dreaded question: “What is…
Prospect to prosperity: Blue Hills boosting neighborhood entrepreneurs (Video)
Economic development along Prospect Avenue requires a chain reaction across the community, Edgar Palacios said. “People need jobs to afford homes, so we need to create those jobs. We need to create some catalysts in this community,” said Palacios, Blue Hills Community Services executive director. “If we can have storefronts along Prospect, that attracts other…
