The Visionz is Coming to Detroit
Simply stated, many Detroit students graduate knowing the history of America, but few have the important skills required to survive in America. They often leave school without the marketable job skills needed to compete in the market place and they struggle to earn a livable wage. What these young people, as well as others in the community, need, are marketable job skills, financial education and internship opportunities to prepare them for entry into professional careers and self-sufficiency.
Introducing the Visionz Project, a comprehensive, interactive curriculum that combines a technology-supported instructor-led classroom course and a powerful app designed to enhance the lives of at-risk Detroit youth.
With Visionz, Detroit youth learn critical life skills that are typically beyond their reach, using training and an app that not only enhances their time in the classroom, it supports their lives after they finish the course.
There are dozens of big cities in the United States with millions of students, but none face an educational crisis like Detroit. Here are some sobering statistics.
- For four years in a row, Detroit's fourth and eighth graders scored the worst in math and reading among students in other big cities.
- Detroit public schools have a graduation rate of just 77%, with a dropout rate of more than 11%.
- The National Institute for Literacy estimated that in 2014, roughly 47% of adults in Detroit were functionally illiterate, facing difficulties doing math, reading, speaking, and using computers.
- Students suffer a severe education disadvantage from a lack of internet access. Only 45% of families earning under $30,000 currently have broadband Internet service in their homes.
- In Detroit, some 100,000 Detroit households have no Internet service, according to data crunched from the U.S. Census American Community Survey for 2013.
Detroit school districts spend thousands of dollars per student - $14,400, to be exact - but are leaving youth without the basic skills to survive outside of school. For at-risk teens that drop out, the situation is even more dismal.
With the Visionz project, we've developed a curriculum to help young, at-risk youth prepare for the workforce, handle their finances, succeed in social situations, and manage their social media.
When a single, errant Facebook post can eliminate a job opportunity, or the lack of a sound budget can leave a person homeless, Visionz training is a critical component in a young person's life.