Innovation Hub aims to support youth in Minneapolis by teaching digital skills
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A Minneapolis nonprofit is using technology to inspire north Minneapolis students, and it is all happening in a home on wheels. The new program aims to close the digital gap and create opportunities for students.
The Innovation Hub is a first-of-its-kind program run by Urban Ventures and part of the nonprofit’s mission is to support Minneapolis youth.
The mobile school can be seen parked outside J.J. Legacy Montessori in north Minneapolis.
Their focus is on technology, providing programming that kids might not otherwise have access to.
Each student gets their own iPad, as well as directions on what they can do with it. They learn robotics, digital art and coding.
The Innovation Hub is a first-of-its-kind program run by Urban Ventures and part of the nonprofit's mission is to support Minneapolis youth.
The program aims to inspire creativity and teach how to navigate a digital world. J.J. Legacy is the first school in the country to host the Innovation Hub.
Tonicia Abdur Salaam is the head of the school and says a program like this gives her students opportunities.
“A lot of children that come from communities such as the community we serve sometimes won’t even leave within a one-mile radius of their home, and so giving them access to things they haven’t been exposed to before allows them to imagine themselves outside the space they might be currently in,” Abdur Salaam said.
Urban Ventures plans to expand to other schools, but for now, they’re seeing the impact right here.