On October 12–14, 2018 TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed) will work with non-profit 48in48 to host a 48-hour Student Digital Immersion experience at Atlanta mobile development and design agency Dragon Army in Old Fourth Ward. TAG-Ed helps generate enthusiasm for STEM throughout the state of Georgia among students in grades K-12 while facilitating public and private partnerships between Georgia’s educators and the tech business community.

The goal of a digital immersion experience is to provide high school students with the opportunity to develop their technical skills and build project portfolios while working alongside technology experts. The students are gaining valuable/marketable skills while giving back to the communities in which they live. 48in48 is an event where volunteers create 48 websites for 48 non-profits in the community by volunteering their unique skill set to a cause with exponential impact. Forty students are screened, selected and paired with 100+ skilled marketing professionals, developers and web designers to give back to the communities in which they live by creating 48 websites for area non-profit organizations.

TAG-Ed, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and 48in48 were recently awarded the IMPACT Business to Nonprofit Partnership Award by the Corporate Volunteer Council for the 2017 Student Digital Immersion Program. 

"48in48 is a catalyst for marketing and technology volunteerism and social entrepreneurship,“ said Carole Williams, Executive Director, 48in48. “This hands-on experience introduces students to the digital marketing industry and its incredible culture of professionals. It also gives these students the chance to learn how they can make an important impact by using their unique talents to give back to their community.”

According to code.org the state of Georgia currently has over 19,000 open computing jobs or 3.8 times the average demand rate for open jobs in the state of Georgia. This number also represents a 4:1 ratio in terms of the number of open jobs relative to the number of student candidates graduating with the appropriate skill set for those jobs in Georgia.

“To help close the gap, we know that many K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions have adopted different forms of project-based, experiential, and cross-disciplinary learning models. that have not reached scale,’” said Errika Moore, Executive Director, TAG-Ed. “Therefore we value the support and investment of organizations like LexisNexis Risk Solutions that creates and enables valuable experiences for students in non-traditional environments.”

LexisNexis Risk Solutions will provide $10,000 in grants and sponsorships to (TAG-Ed) and 48in48 to help launch and manage the 48-hour digital immersion experience for students. The grant will allow LexisNexis Risk Solutions to realize its vision of enhancing equitable technology access for all students while engaging students alongside professionals to make a significant and sustainable impact on non-profit organizations supporting their communities.

“We are thrilled to once again partner with TAG-Ed and 48in48 for this innovative event,” said Kara Grady, VP, Corporate and Brand Communications, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “As a global technology company, we understand the importance and impact of coding instruction and technology education at an early age. The wonderful thing about this project is that is provides an opportunity to build coding knowledge and skills while supporting non-profits in the process and let’s students be a part of real-world solution for organizations in need.”

Orientation for the event begins on Wednesday, October 4th from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm in the Centergy Building, Room 335 at 75th 5th St. NW, Atlanta, GA. For information about this event  and how to apply contact Shanice Saunders at [email protected] or visit www.tagedonline.org/programs/digital-student-immersion-experience.