Here at 5MK, we’ve had the honor of discovering a fresh, new video project that opens up the conversation about what it means to be black, male and American. Here’s a little more information about Question Bridge:
Question Bridge: Black Male creates a question and answer dialogue between various members of the Black American male population, using HD video as the mediator. The goal for this project is to expand upon the common notions of Black masculinity, while simultaneously facilitating a dialogue between Black males who normally would not be able to talk to one another in such a candid manner. The essential concept of Question Bridge: Black Male is: you as an audience, become a privileged witness to a unique dialog that takes place between Black men of all ages and social standings, from all parts of the country.
We just heard about the amazing work of entre-philanthropist Marquis Snowden. Marquis is trying to raise funds for the seventh grade students in his school district in Lemon Grove, California to attend the summer camp that was canceled this year due to educational budget cuts.
This week Marquis was featured on a few local TV stations to talk about his ambitious goal to raise over $80,000 by summer of 2011. Take a look and lend your support!
Can you imagine how great it would be if a business model like this took off? Students could actually contribute to the operational budget of their schools so that programs important to them won’t be cut. This is getting back to the foundation of America! It’s all about creating real solutions instead of giving into our surroundings.
Our celebrity ambassador Gooding helped create the music for this piece on CNN — keep up the good work!
Gooding is an LA-based artist who hails from the Midwest (Kansas, to be specific). Gooding describes himself as “the epitome of DIY,” he’s relentlessly recording, touring and interacting with a growing fanbase both online and on the ground. Learn more about him at GoodingMusic.com
Here at 5MK, we’re thrilled to hear that the importance of education is being touted at this year’s World Cup through a new organization call 1Goal: Education for All. The LA Times reports that Colombian singer Shakira is helping kick off the campaign (and the Cup) by visiting a school in South Africa…as well as attempting the official World Cup dance, the Waka-Waka.
It looks like the news is getting out: Education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool.
An article in the Washington Post recently reported that only one in 10 Hispanic high school dropouts will go on to earn a GED. And the rest of the dropout population isn’t far behind. More details in the article revealed:
Only one in 10 Hispanic high school dropouts has a GED, compared with two in 10 African American dropouts and three in 10 white dropouts. Hispanics also have a much higher high school dropout rate: 41 percent of Hispanics 20 or older do not have high school diplomas, compared with 23 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites.
One reason for the differences is that a large percentage of immigrant Hispanics often are unaware of the opportunity to earn a GED credential, said Richard Fry, a senior research associate at Pew and the report’s author. Many Hispanic immigrants arrive in the United States as adults, having already dropped out of high school abroad, he said.
For 5MK, the saddening news is how unaware both under-served students and dropouts are of the educational opportunities and options available to them; while 5MK works to prevent kids from dropping out, we also believe in second chances. Students need to know not only that education and matriculation are vital to their success, but also that they can learn and bounce back from their mistakes.
Google just announced the winner of its second annual Doodle 4 Google competition. The purpose of this contest is to get kids to think and dream big. Participants submit artwork that includes the Google logo and helps to demonstrate the theme “If I could do anything, I would…”
At FIVE MILLION KIDS, we love these kinds of competitions. With the current dropout crisis, it’s clear that many under-served youth simply don’t have the opportunity dream bigger than the world in front of them. Sometimes, that is a world where education, wealth and success are not part of the equation. Competitions like Doodle for Google help kids to re-engage with ideas outside their immediate surroundings and look for new opportunity.
The winner of this year’s competition was nine-year-old Makenzie Melton of El Dorado Springs, Missouri. Learn more about her doodle below:
Rainforest Habitat
I chose this doodle because the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals. I love everything except spiders and snakes, but I would still save them.
Financial Literacy is a huge part of the FIVE MILLION KIDS INITIATIVE, which is why we work to include our financial literacy curriculum, Banking on Our Future (BOOF), into the program. If you aren’t familiar, BOOF’s online edition is led by our very own financially fit cartoons, Joy and Gabe. These youngsters review the basics of checking, saving, credit, investing, and dignity.
One area where BOOF and 5MK are excited to expand the curriculum is entrepreneurship; until then, we just discovered a great online cartoon series, the Secret Millionaires’ Club, in which an animated version of Warren Buffett delivers business advice to three young go-getters, from running a carwash to launching a lemonade stand. (Speaking of tips, we’re sure our animated Gabe would love Buffett’s advice on how to run his dog-walking business!)
We admit that the cartoon of Warren Buffett made us chuckle; can you imagine an animated version of our own John Hope Bryant?
It’s great to see Buffett sharing his business knowledge — do you think his program will help kids learn to earn and save money?
At FIVE MILLION KIDS, one of our biggest focuses is to help youth realize how important education is to their future. We want every child we work with to realize how important it is to graduate high school.
With that in mind, it’s great to see the work of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which focuses on improving education barriers for low-income students earlier down the road.
To explain why the Casey Foundation’s work is so important, you should know this:
A commonly accepted milestone in literacy is the threshold between the end of third grade and the beginning of fourth: That’s when children switch from learning to read to reading to learn.
The problem comes when elementary school students don’t meet this threshold of literacy by third grade; if they don’t have the tools to read and understand information, they have to play catch-up not only on learning to read, but also on the material they should be learning. Imagine trying to keep up with why amphibians are different from reptiles, when you are struggling just to read why there are different in the first place.
The Casey Foundation is working to help elementary schools, parents, teachers and kids to stay on track in learning to read, so that they can successfully make the switch to reading to learn. It’s great to see another organization getting the whole community involved to improve literacy (financial or otherwise), in under-served areas.
Financial Literacy is a huge part of the FIVE MILLION KIDS INITIATIVE, which is why we work to include our financial literacy curriculum, 
