W.U. School, 2.0

BY Ari, August 14, 2012

W.U. SCHOOL - Fall Semester

We need to raise $25,000 in order to receive an additional grant of $25,000 that we have been awarded from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation ( via their Hive Digital Learning Network)

$25,000 (on indiegogo) = $50,000 for our students, teachers, and artists.

“Technological literacy is the 21st century’s landmark educational imperative. It is estimated that over the next 10 years, there will be 123 million jobs available in the technology sector, but only 50 million Americans qualified to fill them. Through programs such as WU School, World Up is working to give students the skills and knowledge to fill those positions.” - Ebenezer Bond, World Up Founder and Executive Director

4 years ago with no money, no celebrities and nothing but a classroom with 15 nervous but eager students, World Up* began its educational programming. Those 15 students came from all over the world, seeking asylum in the United States while enrolling in the New York City public school system. Many of them didn’t speak English and none of them had ever written a rhyme, but what occurred that day was our first glimpse of magic.

Fast forward four years, World Up has now served over hundreds of students of all ages and from various parts of the world. We’ve worked with musicians including Lupe Fiasco, ?uestlove, Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew, People’s Champs and many more, as well as countless additional artists who have been incredibly generous with their time. We’ve facilitated exchanges on global politics and culture, music, and technology, all with a budget of zero dollars.

This year, all of our hard work, endless favors asked of our friends and loaned spaces for classes led to World UP’s first ever grant of $25,000 from the an initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation’s “Hive Digital Learning Network”. We plan to use this grant to fund WU School, our dream project. WU School is a completely unique technology-driven educational program for high school students that brings Silicon Valley and the South Bronx together to create the future of hip hop.

We began writing drafts of a new curriculum that would become the basis of WU School. The curriculum fuses computer programming, beatmaking, rhymes and basic electronics. We hacked Rock Band drum kits to make beats, brought in guest artists to help our students craft rhymes, and produced a series of tracks (one of which is featured in our fundraising video!).

Today, we’re asking you not only to help us take this project to the next level, but to become a part of it as well. Beginning this fall, World Up is collaborating with the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School to make WU School a reality. But we need a lot of help to get this project off the ground.

In addition to the $25,000 we received from the “Hive Digital Learning Network”, we’re seeking $25,000 to make this groundbreaking project a reality. By the end of the next school year, World Up and our students will have produced

a brand new WU School app,
an album full of original tracks created by our students
a series of international collaborations with artists all over the globe.
The funds will go directly towards the execution of this project and the purchase the materials we need to execute it such as laptop workstations for our students, as well as software and hardware for the students to work with (since many cannot afford this on their own). Additionally, in order to secure top-notch talent in the hip hop and technology worlds, we will use part of the funds to secure participation.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can’t contribute monetarily please support us by promoting this to others who might support us.