LOCAL STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY SHOW

Students from Betty Shabazz Academy and Barbara A. Sizemore Academy were recently invited to attend the International Manufacturing Technology Show. Photo Credit: Provided by Betty Shabazz Academy
Students from Betty Shabazz Academy and Barbara A. Sizemore Academy were recently invited to attend the International Manufacturing Technology Show. Photo Credit: Provided by Betty Shabazz Academy

Local Students Participate In International Manufacturing Technology Show

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

More than 300 students from Betty Shabazz Academy, 7822 S. Dobson Ave., and Barbara A. Sizemore Academy, 6547 S. Stewart Ave., were recently invited to attend the International Manufacturing Technology Show. Students were able to participate in hands-on learning experiences and technology demonstrations. During the International Manufacturing Technology Show, students studied robotics, coding, virtual reality, smart devices, 3D printing, web and app development, digital art, media, and film.

“Out of all the schools on the south and west sides that are predominately black, up until now, there has been little to no representation of them at this tech expo which has a youth and STEAM component to it. They reached out to me because they knew that I was doing a lot of work in the Englewood, Auburn Gresham, and Greater Grand Crossing communities as far as technology and they asked me to bring some students which was no problem for me cause it’s something that I normally do,” said Patrick Zakee Young, founder of Urban Tech Academy.

Urban Tech Academy is a charitable, educational and civic organization created to provide IT skill development in underserved communities by providing “education to careers” opportunities for youth and adults, according to the Urban Tech Academy website. Young reached out to the principals at Betty Shabazz Academy and Barbara A. Sizemore Academy to see if they would be interested in taking a few students to the International Manufacturing Technology Show.

“I reached out to the principals at Betty Shabazz and Sizemore and they were all for it. I thought they would maybe get a bus to take students and they were like better yet, we will get multiple bus loads and take as many students as we can,” said Young.

Between the two schools, they were able to bring students at all grade levels from kindergarten through eighth grade to experience the technology show.

“All grade levels were pretty much represented from kindergarten through eighth grade and this is a place that probably hasn’t seen a large number of black students participate before and it was just shocking for anyone to see that many black students there, especially all of the young ones we brought,” said Young.

This experience was important for these students because it gave them an opportunity to see first hand the vast array of technology that exists in the world and encouraged them to think about how they might fit into the tech world as adults.

“It was a wonderful experience and a lot of the things that I teach in the classroom are about how eventually we are going to lose jobs to automation and that was pretty much what this showed us. People were coming from all over the world to see these new machines and learn what they can do for their business so it was really important for the students to be able to see where the world is going and think about how they can find a role to play,” said Young.

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