Access to Quality Education for the Underprivileged

Education is something that everyone deserves; however, throughout the USA, there are extreme inequalities in the education system. In Illinois specifically, districts in affluent neighborhoods, such as districts 204 and 203, have graduation rates more than 10% above the state average, along with more opportunities like clubs, extracurriculars, sports, and easier access to tutoring. Conversely, districts such as 189 and 131, which are in less affluent areas, see graduation rates 10% below the state average, as well as fewer opportunities for their students as stated in the Illinois State Report Cards. As a result, we hereby propose a solution that will help all students in Illinois take a step forward to obtaining equal and quality education and combat this glaring inequality. Similar to how IMSA has a Peer Tutoring Program/Discord, we want to create several Peer Tutoring Discords that are accessible to any student in Illinois, especially to students living in less affluent areas. These Discords will have a similar setup to how IMSA’s Discord is set up, where there are multiple different channels for different subjects (such as Math, Science, Social Studies, English, and etc.). Peer Tutors are also a must, so any 10th to 12th-grade students, as well as college students, will be eligible for volunteer hours through our Peer Tutor program. They must also be tested to be qualified to tutor for any subject. This way, students who need help will receive tutoring from qualified peers, and peers will receive volunteer hours that they can add to their resume. The Peer Tutor Program will also encourage collaboration between students from very different backgrounds, which will lead to more experience and growth as a student and peer

FTC Titans #17576 ENGINEERING PORTFOLIO

IMSA\u27s FTC Robotics Team, the FTC TITANS, was recently recognized at an educational STEM conference presenting to the student body of Orrington Elementary and invited to present at professional meetings for Molex and Caterpillar/Trimble Connectivity to spread robotics to almost 100 engineers and STEM professionals, both at the student and professional levels. We have used STEM education and robotics to inspire over 6300 people across the globe. The team was recently awarded the 1st Place Connect Award for professional outreach and 2nd Place Inspire (Championship) Award and is excited to be competing at the State Competition.https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/cii_dsw/1004/thumbnail.jp