Pass the Mic Literacy Labs

Our ‘literacy labs’ are innovative hubs that train tomorrow’s leaders today. Our labs are twofold- fully functional community libraries, stocked with books and technology, with a twist- unparalleled literacy, art, technical and leadership training that results in youth prepared to work and lead in our new world economy.

Globally, illiteracy and functional illiteracy affect 115 million youth (people under the age of 18). Youth that are illiterate or functionally illiterate are more likely to be poor, use drugs and alcohol, engage in violence or illegal activities, and be unable to find a strong, stable career. Illiteracy coupled with lack of opportunities and training continues to hold youth and their families in extreme poverty, with little chance of securing meaningful and stable careers. Additionally, ineffective and overcrowded schools contribute to an environment where children are unable to learn both basic academic skills, and take risks as artists and entrepreneurs. 

Research shows that several key characteristics of our programs contribute to positive outcomes for underserved youth. Individual goal-setting with the guidance of mentors has been shown to help youth overcome poor decision-making, increase social competence, and become optimistic (Danish et al., 2012). Long-term programs that engage youth throughout adolescence appear to be the most effective in promoting healthy adolescents (Roth et al., 2010). Socially and economically disadvantaged youth who have high levels of arts engagement show more positive outcomes in a variety of areas than their low-arts-engaged peers (Catterall, 2012). Through arts, sports, literacy and technology, our youth will flourish. 

Through stand-alone sites, partnerships and attaching literacy labs to pre-existing programs, we are directly accessible to the community. Starting at age 8, youth will receive training after school, on weekends, and during holidays, in literacy and creative writing, visual arts, technology and athletics. When youth enter the lab, their literacy levels, goals and future plans will be tracked and monitored weekly through our mobile applications. When youth graduate from the program at age 20, they will be able to read and write at the appropriate level and will have a career or higher education plans in their field of choice.

Youth literacy levels are tested every month; every youth that is involved with a Pass the Mic literacy lab is tested for their reading level, and is tracked through our scannable identification cards. - All literacy lab youth participants are able to read and write at the appropriate grade level, and

After four months of training sessions, youth are to present their websites, video games and app designs to the Pass the Mic Youth Board of Directors; the top presentation will receive funding and support to be developed further. - All literacy lab youth participants are trained in computer and technology programming and entrepreneurship, producing their own app or video game,

Through our tablet and app monitoring system, youth create three short term and three long term goals. Using an app, directors monitor the progress of these goals on each youth tablet, and make suggestions and appointments for career counseling. - All literacy lab youth write current and long term goals, schedule them through our calendar tracking system, and work with their mentors and career counselors to meet them, tracking their progress along the way.

Our literacy labs assist youth in completing long-term goals through training in specific focus areas, ensuring expertise in literacy and across a diverse spectrum of non-traditional academic fields, including the arts, writing, leadership and technology. Giving youth a space to design and implement their own websites, video games and apps breeds entrepreneurship and creativity. Our innovative smartphone application for program leaders enables them to monitor student progress by the hour, while our tablet program helps youth set goals and monitor personal progress. This technology is the core of our program and makes goal-setting and program evaluation manageable and accessible.

We use technology as a teaching tool and for the monitoring and evaluation process for youth and program leaders. Through our technology skills program, youth learn computer basics, programming, graphic design, and app, website and video game design. Our monitoring and evaluation system is twofold, involving tablets and mobile applications. All students receive a tablet that hosts thousands of books, a calendar and goal-setting system to help them track homework, projects and goals. Our smartphone app for program leaders allows them to keep track of student tablets, monitor project progress, and schedule career and goal counseling appointments for students.

Our literacy labs are built in forty-foot shipping containers and placed within the communities that we serve. With four containers placed in the shape of a square, we are able to accommodate over 100 youth and our four major areas of learning: literacy, arts, athletics and technology. Every container acts as a fully-functioning community library, with different programming held in each one. Our literacy labs are also designed to be paired with and attached to other non-profit and community based organizations, such as clinics, community centers, schools, or youth programs, so as to reach as many community members as possible. 

Our pilot program, in the Kibera Slums of Nairobi, Kenya, is funded through a grant from National Grid and the Samuel Huntington Public Service Award. This funding will support our Kibera location for one year. Our community library will generate income by charging all adults (anyone over the age of 18) a small one-time fee for a library card, which entitles the owner to use of community library programs, books, computers, tablets, and adult literacy and technology classes. For our additional locations, we will partner with pre-existing non-profit organizations to reduce overhead costs and increase the reach of our programming

The main challenge that we foresee is the instability of the lives of youth in the areas that we seek to serve. Many urban youth are highly mobile, making it more difficult to ensure accountability and consistency. Because of various family situations, some youth may also lack parental support in their pursuit of nontraditional career paths. We strive to meet the needs of all youth through curriculum flexibility and a robust technology tracking system, through our app program for facilitators and educators, our tablet program for youth, and our unique barcode identification cards required for every youth in our program. 

Becoming a Solver would be an incredible opportunity, to provide youth throughout the world access to quality education in non-traditional fields, literacy, the arts, athletics and technology. The Pass the Mic Youth Team wants to be part of Solve because we believe that the solutions to the world's most pressing problems will come from partnerships and teamwork. We want to expand our literacy lab programming to ensure a fully literate world, where all children have the opportunity to flourish and thrive. Through the Solve program, we hope to create sustainable partnerships to serve as many youth as possible.