Meet Angel - A Fourth Grade Student in West Baltimore
Angel, a 4th grader in West Baltimore, reads and performs math at a 7th grade level. She has unbelievable potential - her parents and teachers are extremely proud of her. But beyond her five blocks, no one knows.
Angel deserves the chance to share her abilities and achievements with the outside world. She deserves the at-home learning materials and out-of-school learning experiences that traditionally assist her wealthier Maryland counterparts. She deserves the chance to share her obvious potential beyond her neighborhood.
Imagine a multi-faceted web platform on which Angel, with a teacher's assistance and parental approval, can connect with stakeholders from across the country. Angel would no longer just be sharing her grades on the family's refrigerator, but with a broad community whose common interest is helping Angel meet her fullest potential - people who can fund resources and opportunities.
With each of Angel's successive achievements, her profile expands and is shared with her network. Supporters are not restricted merely to a transaction's details - funding an item with notice of its arrival. Instead, they share in Angel's joy as investments result in achievement.
As Angel reaches grade 12, her profile will serve as a curriculum vitae of achievement. With a network of donor-supporters behind her, she can share her profile with college admissions counselors, providing a unique perspective into her qualifications, abilities, and personal narrative.
Angel and her teacher engage the SOAR platform
- Angel, with the assistance of her teacher, first creates a student profile on SOAR platform. Angel and her teacher attach a picture, write a student biography, attach stellar academic documents (i.e. report card, essays, pictures of projects, etc.) and express Angel's need for an educational product or service.
- Angel's teacher then collects the student disclosure from her parent/legal guardian and activates her profile by attaching a letter of recommendation.
- Once this process is complete, individual donors can view Angel's profile on the SOAR platform and invest in her project.
- Angel's teacher will continuously work with Angel to enhance her profile throughout the year. Angel's teacher will also assist her with posting a required thank you letter on her profile to donors who supported her project.
Angel's academic needs and interests are unique like that of every other student.
In order to accommodate the wide array of student needs and interests, SOAR has connected with a plethora of different vendors to upload over 4,000 educational products and services onto our platform. These products and services aim to enhance the at-home learning environment for low-income students in Baltimore and provide them with access to high-quality learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
Some of the potential products include:
- Take-home literacy sets
- Take-home math fluency sets
- Take home libraries
- Academic board/computer games
- High-cost math items (e.g. graphing calculator)
- Technological/computer-based devices
Some of the potential services include:
- One-on-one tutoring
- College-related costs
- College tuition packages
- Academic camps
- Internship-related costs
- Test preparation services.