Rainbow PUSH wants to boost tech education through summer programs - Chicago Sun-Times

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Piper Williams slipped connected immoderate virtual world goggles and stole a peek connected into the adjacent signifier of acquisition parity — exertion classes successful areas including coding and robotics.

Glenn Williams looked connected successful amazement arsenic Piper, his 7-year-old daughter, twirled astir a lecture hall.

“It’s great, keeps them occupied and engaged,” helium said.

Piper whitethorn person been immersed successful a virtual world, but successful reality, she and her dada were astatine the office for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

That’s where, connected Tuesday, leaders from the civilian rights organization’s acquisition limb — PUSH for Excellence — announced a program to stress exertion acquisition arsenic they unveiled the docket for an upcoming assistance celebration.

Helping PUSH tout STEM acquisition was Bernard Key, who for the past 2 years has taught robotics and different exertion classes successful the organization’s summertime programs — programs the radical hopes to yet connection the year-round, and to adults, arsenic well.

Williams, who grew up with Key successful the Brainerd vicinity connected the South Side, said Key was ever funny successful technology.

“We couldn’t spend spell karts, truthful helium would physique them,” Williams said. “That’s been portion of his DNA ever since we was kids.”

Key helium wanted to instill that aforesaid tone successful students, starring them to amended jobs.

He cited fast-food concatenation White Castle, which announced earlier successful the twelvemonth that it would usage robots to navigator burgers astatine immoderate locations.

“This is going to beryllium the quality betwixt them programming that robot oregon cleaning the bathroom,” Key said.

Hardy Williams (left) explains however Bernard Key (right) uses virtual world to boost tech education. The 2 were among those speaking connected Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022 astatine Rainbow PUSH Coalition office connected the South Side.

Bishop Tavis Grant, acting nationalist enforcement manager of Rainbow PUSH, besides spoke astatine Tuesday’s quality conference, emphasizing the value of helping students get fiscal assistance to further their education. Rainbow PUSH does its part, keeping those summertime programs affordable; they’re unfastened to PUSH Coalition members for the $15 outgo of membership.

“This enactment is truthful precise critical, particularly successful times of inflation,” Grant said.

Annual assistance meal connected MLK Day

Rainbow PUSH, founded by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, volition big its 33rd Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast connected Jan. 16 astatine the Marriott Marquis Chicago, 2121 S. Prairie Ave.

Held since 1993 connected the vacation honoring King, the meal is simply a accidental for the enactment to renew its committedness to the civilian rights leader’s imaginativeness and item the organization’s mode of furthering those goals done education.

Speakers astatine the January lawsuit volition see histrion Sheryl Lee Ralph; retiring Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White; and activistic Jitu Brown.

Beyond offering much details connected PUSH for Excellence, the radical besides volition usage the assistance meal to item their efforts astatine financing acquisition and denote a program to forestall unit successful schools.

Remote-control cars made by PUSH for Excellence students nether the guidance of teacher Bernard Key were connected show Tuesday astatine Rainbow PUSH headquarters.

The Rev. Janette Wilson, the organization’s enforcement director, addressed the aforesaid topic. “No kid should turn up without these tools,” she said. “Many of our parents aren’t moving the jobs of contiguous due to the fact that they don’t person the training.”

In summation to emphasizing technological education, the enactment volition besides instrumentality to the perennial taxable of group’s relation successful providing scholarships. Since its inception, the enactment has paid retired $8 cardinal successful scholarships, including for 82 assemblage and assemblage students past year.

Michael Loria is simply a unit newsman astatine the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism programme that aims to bolster the paper’s sum of communities connected the South Side and West Side.