Doorway of Literacy: Creating A World Where Everyone Can Advance

                                                                LightSail

One in nine adult Americans struggle with employment outcomes as well as personal and social well-being – all because of low literacy skills.
LightSail is dedicated to turning students into readers who will become engaged global citizens in the 21st Century. So, in 2012 a group of the brightest minds in education got together to create the world’s best literacy solution. They knew a few key things from their experiences in the classrooms:

• Students grow faster when engaged and challenged by an abundance of just right texts
• Students are motivated by understanding their own progress data
• Educators can do more with better progress monitoring

These bright minds set to work on crafting, testing, and perfecting the reading experience they wish they had in their own schools. Today, LightSail is advancing literacy in schools all across the US, serving hundreds of thousands of students across nearly 500 districts.―

What We Do - LightSail

In 2015, LightSail's SummerSail Reading Program provided at-risk middle school students with access to LightSail for seven weeks in an effort to combat "summer slide" - a phenomenon by which economically disadvantaged children rarely read during the summer as compared to their more advantaged peers.

“Good things happen when teachers, education advocates, and technologists join together for a massively transformative purpose.”―LightSail

Timeless and Universal Principles that can Empower Anyone to Succeed

The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program (Academic Edition)
Designed to inspire and engage participants in the fundamental aspects of an entrepreneurial mindset as an essential life skill. Individuals learn how to achieve success regardless of their chosen path. Courtesy of Elientrepreneur
The Ice House program draws upon eight fundamental concepts of entrepreneurial thought and process derived from the companion text, Who Owns the Ice House?:
Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur.

Who Owns the Ice House?: Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur

In the late 1950s, Glen Allan, Mississippi, was a poor cotton community. For many, it was a time and place where opportunities were limited by social and legal...

Each lesson contains video case studies featuring a variety of real-world “unlikely” entrepreneurs who have overcome challenges by embracing the core concepts of an entrepreneurial mindset. The program also provides for experiential learning through the process of identifying problems, finding solutions, and making connections beyond the classroom.
 Learn more about The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program. Courtesy of Harlem Renaissance
The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program was developed by The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative in collaboration with Clifton Taulbert's Building Community Institute and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The program has enrolled more than 3000 students in more than 30 countries worldwide.

WOTIH? Pilot Program Implemented for Seventh-Grade Students in Erie, PA
More than 850 seventh-graders in the Erie School District soon will take classes on how to think like an entrepreneur. A problem-based methodology that encourages students to apply what they are learning within real-world, ambiguous, resource-constrained circumstances, enabling them to develop entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and skills. A process in which they also learn how to identify problems, and find solutions.

The Ice House Entrepreneur Program has the potential to be “a real game-changer,” said Bill Jackson, president of the United Way of Erie County.
Read Full Article by Ed Palattella at GoErie