Three Atlanta Public Schools have been awarded a $45,000 grant to provide digital tools and resources to engage students in the Ciena Solutions Challenge. As a result, students from Benjamin E. Mays High School, Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, and B.E.S.T. Academy will solve real-world problems identified in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals that impact them and their communities.
Students will collaborate to develop a real-world problem they want to solve and use various tools and processes such as digital fabrication, coding, robotics, and media production that support student creativity, innovation, and invention to solve that problem.
“This program is an amazing opportunity for the students involved to become changemakers in their communities and leave their impact and legacy for years to come, “ said Dr. Natasha Rachell, Director of Instructional Technology. “Through this collaboration with Ciena, our students will be exposed to and learn how to use 21st-century digital tools and resources, thus gaining valuable knowledge that they can carry with them as they matriculate to college, career, and beyond.”
Through this program, Benjamin E. Mays High School, Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, and B.E.S.T. Academy now join a cohort of model schools participating in the Ciena Solutions Challenge. Teachers will gain professional learning experiences to guide their students through creating solutions to problems that affect them and the world they live in.