Officials from Atlanta Public Schools (APS) and Ed Farm will announce a first-of-its-kind, two-part fellowship initiative that will prepare 100 district educators to develop, support, and provide real-world personalized and future-ready learning experiences for students, and spark an interest in attending an Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

Through the Innovation Fellows program, Ed Farm technology specialists will equip the cohort of educators in the district with technology-based skills and strategies to support active learning by using innovative resources and teaching strategies to create stimulating learning environment for their students, whether virtually or in person.

Additionally, they will announce the Propel Now program, which is designed to provide APS high school students with unique technology-based learning opportunities and equip them to become passionate about and prepared to attend an HBCU. It focuses on providing access to resources, experiences and spaces that are often not accessible to our most deserving youth. Through partnerships with HBCUs throughout the country, this initiative will help students realize their potential, awaken their passions and provide the support students need to attend and thrive at the HBCU of their choice.

The launch of the Innovation Fellows and Propel Now programs follows the January 2021 announcement of the 50,000-square foot Propel Center being built as part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium). The Propel Center will include on-site and virtual programming for HBCU students to support entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership.

The announcement of the Innovation Fellows and Propel Now programs by APS and Ed Farm is scheduled to take place Thursday on the campus of Clark-Atlanta University (CAU), an HBCU located in Atlanta’s Historic West End that is part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which includes HBCUs Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, Spelman College and the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC).

WHAT:          

APS and Ed Farm officials will announce the launch of the Innovation Fellows and Propel Now programs.

WHO:             

Officials available for interviews will be Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring, Atlanta Board of Education Chair Jason Esteves, Ed Farm CEO Waymond Jackson, CAU President Dr. George T. French Jr., and an APS high school student who has expressed an interest in the Propel Now program.

WHERE:       

Henderson Student Center (Baranco Multipurpose Room) on the campus of Clark-Atlanta University | 799 Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard

WHEN:         

Thursday, August 26, 2021 | 10:30 – 11:30 AM

(There will be an opportunity to shoot footage of a group of Innovation Fellows in their first training session with Ed Farm.)