Tag Archives: education

Pharrell Williams Grants Internships To 114 Harlem High School Grads

LA Mission Easter Dinner for the Homeless

Source: FayesVision/WENN.com / WENN

It isn’t a secret that Pharrell Williams loves to give back to the youth and young creative minds and the Virginia native once again proved that fact last week. After speaking at a Harlem high school graduation, Skateboard P announced that he’ll be granting all 114 graduating seniors an internship.

Because Of Them We Can reports:

There’s a new renaissance happening in Harlem and the youth are leading it! All of the graduating seniors from Harlem’s Promise Academy received college acceptance letters, and on Wednesday, they had the perfect send off for their next phase.

Producer and entrepreneur extraordinaire Pharrell served as their graduation speaker and provided more than an inspirational message. He surprised them with the gift of a lifetime.

“So let me be clear, every member of the 2019 graduating class, is guaranteed an internship waiting for them, you, next summer,” Pharrell said in a video posted by Harlem’s Children’s Zone.

That’s 114 internships. 114 opportunities. 114 lives changed.

“It’s one thing to be ‘woke,’ another to be awake, leaned in and engaged,” said Pharrell during his keynote address.

How beautiful is that?

Check out a video of the moment below.

Photo: WENN

Source: HipHopWired.com

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Kevin Durant Opens Facility In Maryland To Help Kids Through College

The Durant Center, a brand-new state-of-the-art educational and leadership facility powered by College Track, will welcome its inaugural class of 69 students from Suitland High School.

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

Kevin Durant is, without doubt, one of the NBA’s most electrifying players and a solid cog in the high-powered Golden State Warriors offense. But like other youth from his home state of Maryland, Durant wasn’t gifted with endless riches to go to the next level scholastically and now, he’s using his platform to assist others with that journey via the new Durant Center facility in Prince George’s County. 

The Washington Post writes:

About two years ago, Durant was looking for ways to widen his philanthropic portfolio. He had, a year earlier, signed a two-year contract with Golden State worth about $54 million. His foundation had overseen the construction of parks and basketball courts throughout the United States, including some in the Washington area.

But now he wanted something more far-reaching, so he attended a conference for start-up companies and met representatives for College Track, a company that uses a 10-year plan to shepherd students from their early teenage years through college graduation. Before long, Durant found himself visiting a center in Oakland, Calif., discussing how to bring something like that to Washington while paying attention to that facility’s students.

“He was interested in understanding their journey and what types of services we provided that really change their trajectory,” said Elissa Salas, College Track’s chief executive.

The organization, whose collaboration with Durant would lead to its first site on the East Coast, considered property in the District — Salas said a second College Track location will open this autumn in Congress Heights in Southeast D.C. and a third is in the early planning stages — but that Durant was adamant Prince George’s County seemed right.

How dope is that?

Learn more about College Track and the Durant Center by following this link. Peep the video below too.

Photo: Getty

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Kevin Durant Opens Facility In Maryland To Help Kids Through College

The Durant Center, a brand-new state-of-the-art educational and leadership facility powered by College Track, will welcome its inaugural class of 69 students from Suitland High School.

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

Kevin Durant is, without doubt, one of the NBA’s most electrifying players and a solid cog in the high-powered Golden State Warriors offense. But like other youth from his home state of Maryland, Durant wasn’t gifted with endless riches to go to the next level scholastically and now, he’s using his platform to assist others with that journey via the new Durant Center facility in Prince George’s County. 

The Washington Post writes:

About two years ago, Durant was looking for ways to widen his philanthropic portfolio. He had, a year earlier, signed a two-year contract with Golden State worth about $54 million. His foundation had overseen the construction of parks and basketball courts throughout the United States, including some in the Washington area.

But now he wanted something more far-reaching, so he attended a conference for start-up companies and met representatives for College Track, a company that uses a 10-year plan to shepherd students from their early teenage years through college graduation. Before long, Durant found himself visiting a center in Oakland, Calif., discussing how to bring something like that to Washington while paying attention to that facility’s students.

“He was interested in understanding their journey and what types of services we provided that really change their trajectory,” said Elissa Salas, College Track’s chief executive.

The organization, whose collaboration with Durant would lead to its first site on the East Coast, considered property in the District — Salas said a second College Track location will open this autumn in Congress Heights in Southeast D.C. and a third is in the early planning stages — but that Durant was adamant Prince George’s County seemed right.

How dope is that?

Learn more about College Track and the Durant Center by following this link. Peep the video below too.

Photo: Getty

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Students Defend Black Music Teacher Who Handed Student The Fade

High Angle View Of Hand Cuffs On Black Background

Source: Mike Campbell / EyeEm / Getty

Marston Riley lost his cool and his job after he was arrested for punching a student in his music class who assaulted him with a barrage of n-word laced insults. Students both former and current are defending the Southern California instructor and a GoFundMe has been established to support his legal costs.

Buzzfeed News exclusively reports:

Marston Riley, who teaches at Maywood Academy, an alternative high school in Los Angeles, was standing in front of his band class Friday afternoon when he and a student got into an argument because the teen was not wearing his uniform, classmates and witnesses have said online and to local media.

The 64-year-old teacher, who is black, told the 14-year-old to leave the classroom, prompting the student to hurl a slew of insults, curse words, and racist comments at Riley. Students captured the incident on their cellphones and the footage quickly went viral.

In the video, sounds of horns quickly fall silent after the teen refuses to leave and calls the instructor the n-word several times. Riley then walks to stand near the student silently as the student continues to go off, saying what sounds like, “What’s up, bro? You see me? I’m right here, nigger.” The video then shows the teen throwing a basketball at the teacher.

After asking the student to leave again, Riley suddenly decks the teen and the two get into a brawl as other students pop up from their seats and scramble to get out of the way. A woman wearing a neon vest appears in the video and tries to intervene.

The outlet reports that Riley posted $50,000 bail after getting an arraignment court date on suspicion of child abuse.

Students have rallied around Riley and saying that the student provoked him, adding to a string of incidents where others have done the same in time’s past. There is also a #JusticeForRiley hashtag that’s cropped up in support of the teacher.

Riley is due in court on Nov. 30.

Photo: Getty

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Sean “Diddy” Combs To Give $1M To Charter School Group, Opening School In The Bronx

Sean 'Diddy' Combs Officially Opens Capital Prep Harlem Charter School

Source: Robin Marchant / Getty

Sean “Diddy” Combs has already committed his time and money to ensure growing minds in his native Harlem have a safe learning environment. The Bad Boy mogul and entertainer once again opened his wallet and will invest in a charter school network that will erect a school in the Bronx, joining schools that are in existence in Harlem and Bridgeport, Conn.

New York Post reports:

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs pledged $1 million to his Harlem charter school network Tuesday — and announced the opening of a third location in the Bronx next September.

In a release, Combs said Capital Prep Bronx will serve roughly 160 kids in sixth and seventh grades and will expand to 650 students and additional grades over the next five years.

“I came from the same environment these kids live in every day,” Combs said in a statement Tuesday. “I understand the importance of access to a great education, and the critical role it plays in a child’s future.”

Combs established Capital Prep Harlem in 2016 and Capital Prep Bridgeport in Connecticut the following year.

To be clear, Combs worked alongside Dr. Steve Perry, who opened the Hartford location back in 2017, with the Harlem location opening in 2016.

Learn more about their mission here.

Photo: Getty

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