Corps Member Begins Visioning for Mobile Student App

One day, one of my students, Reggie, was pulled out for distracting class. He looked me square in the face and asked, "Mrs. Nunnally, when will I ever need to know how to do half the things I learn in school, for real? Where I am from, this stuff doesn’t help me make money.”

Reggie failed every course that year.

This question haunted me because somehow I knew his concerns ring true and without proper mentorship, guidance and career exploration, all these lessons in class for him would be just words. It was not real. I went home and started brainstorming ways to provide real answers to this problem, but I quickly realized I needed help from a community of supporters that had more life and professional experiences. With over 60 percent of all Georgia’s high school students enrolled in Career Technical pathways and fewer qualified teachers in high poverty, minority schools like mine, I knew I needed some “worker bees” to join me.

The key I believed that was missing: a community of supporters that could help educate and connect the dots for my students to understand why their learning mattered. I had experienced success with a pilot program at Westlake High School that engaged the community for support, but what if the community could be mobile. I knew my kids used their smartphone religiously, so I decided that I wanted to make an app that allows more stakeholders from all walks of life to interact and educate my students about career options and skills right from their phone.

I also wanted them to have access to jobs and a teen-friendly LinkedIn profile that provided them marketing material for future jobs. Thus, Bizzie Teen was born to create a mobile marketplace and community—full of career professionals, community partners, schools, parents and teachers that would support the college and career needs of our students. Now it’s time for us to get to work to keep our future working.

Therefore, we will host our first vision volunteer sessions in March at WeWork in Buckhead to begin laying the vision for our kid’s future. If you are a coder, educator, business or student, we need you to join us in developing the curriculum and the mobile platform. Sign up at bizzieteen.com to volunteer TODAY.