{"id":2244,"date":"2022-07-19T21:30:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/tech\/south-l-a-best-buy-teen-tech-center\/"},"modified":"2022-07-19T21:30:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:30:21","slug":"south-l-a-best-buy-teen-tech-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/tech\/south-l-a-best-buy-teen-tech-center\/","title":{"rendered":"South L.A. Best Buy Teen Tech Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation partnered with Best Buy, the Annenberg Foundation, and Greater LA Education Foundation to create a center that has a computer lab and recording studio.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Support_Standard_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"296\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The L.A. Standard Newspaper needs your support so that we can continue to create positive stories about Black communities. $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. -Jason Douglas Lewis, Owner\/Publisher. Donations can be made through Cash App <a href=\"https:\/\/cash.app\/$LAStandard\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/cash.app\/$LAStandard<\/a>, Venmo https:\/\/venmo.com @LA-Standard-Newspaper, PayPal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/paypalme\/lastandardnewspaper\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/paypalme\/lastandardnewspaper<\/a>, and GoFundMe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-blackowned-los-angeles-standard-newspaper<\/a>. Checks can be mailed to 2415 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0fCbMWYbJ4A\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">By Jason Lewis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">South Los Angeles has a brand new state-of-the-art tech center at the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation (VSEDC).&nbsp; The South L.A. Best Buy Teen Tech Center gives children ages 10-18 years old access to computers, tablets, a music studio, robotics, virtual reality equipment, 3D printing, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re decreasing the digital divide and making a difference in this community,&rdquo; said Thai Buckman, VSEDC program coordinator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">At this center the children will learn coding, website development, digital content creation, and financial literacy.&nbsp; The tablets will teach the students graphic design and art.&nbsp; The music studio has a soundproof vocal booth and a digital control room that has the same equipment that can be found in high-end music studios. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-2242\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0979_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0979_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0979_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-2243\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0986_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0986_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/6S8R0986_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">As part of the LA Community Impact Hub, this launch is a crucial step in an ongoing effort by Best Buy, the Annenberg Foundation, and Greater LA Education Foundation to address the digital divide in the community.&nbsp; Recent census data estimates that 6.4 percent of households in Los Angeles County do not have a computer, and 13 percent lack access to broadband internet.&nbsp; These households are disproportionately located in underserved Black and Latino communities.&nbsp; According to the City of Los Angeles, Black and Latino households are only one-third as likely as White households to have internet access.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;The education, training and hands-on access at the Best Buy Teen Tech Centers prepares teens for tech-reliant careers of the future,&#8221; said Andrea Wood, head of Social Impact at Best Buy. &#8220;This is a collective effort. We&#8217;re honored to collaborate with committed partners like the Annenberg Foundation and VSEDC to build brighter futures for young people in South L.A. through tech.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Many students in South Los Angeles and surrounding areas do not have access to this type of equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;This community doesn&rsquo;t have places like this,&rdquo; Buckman said.&nbsp; &ldquo;We want to be able to train children and give them access to technology so that they can be competitive in the workforce.&nbsp; We want to expose them to different pathways.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">This tech center will improve a student&rsquo;s chances of making it to college, and it will also help students who will choose to enter the workforce after high school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We do college to career, but we also do entrepreneurship,&rdquo; Buckman said.&nbsp; &ldquo;So that the youth who do not go to college can also utilize their skills to become successful.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Los Angeles is one of the largest technology hubs in the world, and there is a lot of untapped talent in this area that simply does not have equal opportunity or access to the tools to excel in the technology fields.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We all understand that places like this power the next great idea in tech,&rdquo; said Cinny Kennard, Executive Director of the Annenberg Foundation.&nbsp; &ldquo;Can you imagine the next TikTok coming out of this building or even better yet an engineering method that makes technology more accessible?&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The VSEDC is located at 6109 S. Western Avenue. For more information contact the VSEDC at (323) 753-2335.&nbsp; Visit their website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vsedc.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.vsedc.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation partnered with Best Buy, the Annenberg Foundation, and Greater LA Education Foundation to create a center that has a computer lab and recording studio.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[169,170,93,2303,168,695,167,2306,161,218,156,157,75,135,163,162,2305,102,2304,241,158,160,159],"class_list":["post-2244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","tag-african-american","tag-african-american-newspaper","tag-baldwin-hills","tag-best-buy","tag-black-newspaper","tag-coding","tag-community-newspaper","tag-computer-lab","tag-crenshaw","tag-inglewood","tag-ladera-heights","tag-leimert-park","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-standard-newspaper","tag-mid-city","tag-park-mesa-heights","tag-recording-studio","tag-south-los-angeles","tag-teen-tech-center","tag-vermont-slauson-economic-development-corporation","tag-view-park","tag-west-adams","tag-windsor-hills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}