#BlackLivesMatter and #StopAsianHate
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Yet again, tragic events have destroyed lives, upended families, and shaken communities of color. The killings of Daunte Wright and Vicha Ratanapakdee, and assaults on countless others reveal the distressing degree of racial animus and bias in our nation. We wish to express our sorrow and solidarity with all communities that have been victims of racial violence.
The killing of another Black man at the hands of police is an unbearable loss for those who have already borne too much. We are a broken society and any path forward feels even darker and more uncertain. We are further saddened by the xenophobia reflected in the increase of anti-Asian violence and harassment, especially against elders, women and girls across the US.
The ExCITe Center's mission of innovation is based upon our conviction that diversity of perspectives and backgrounds provides a relentless source of creativity. These heartbreaking and devastating events reaffirm our Center’s commitment to be a fully inclusive community, and we will always stand against the racism, gender bias, and xenophobia that diminishes all of us.
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Welcome to our new Spring/Summer Co-ops!
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This month we welcome our Spring/Summer cohort of Co-op students (virtually) to the Center! ExCITe Co-ops play a huge role in our research activities and year-round education and outreach programs.
- Nicole Cabrera Holguin joins the team as our Civic Technologist Co-Op.
- DJ Dawkins joins the team as the ILLEST Lab Lead Engineering Project Manager.
- Panote Nuchprayoon joins the team as our STEAM Education Assistant.
- A.J. Easterday joins the team as a Research Assistant for the Entrepreneurial Game Studio.
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Congratulations, Dr. Jeff Gregorio!
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Jeff Gregorio, of the ExCITe Center’s Music & Entertainment Technology Lab, successfully defended his PhD dissertation a few weeks ago. His work, “Timbre Space Learning for Augmentation of Musical Audio Synthesizer Interfaces”, incorporates methods from the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make music synthesis easier to control. Congratulations, Dr. Gregorio!
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Over the past 10 months the Digital Navigator program has achieved some incredible results. We've assisted almost 200 community members with Internet access, computer needs, technical support, and referrals to other services. We're looking forward to continuing our mission of improving digital equity in West Philadelphia.
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2021 Franklin Bower Award Symposium
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For those curious about Artificial Intelligence... On Wednesday, April 28, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Franklin Institute will host a virtual symposium to honor 2021 Bower Award recipient, Dr. Kunihiko Fukushima “for his pioneering research that applied principles of neuroscience to engineering through his invention of the first deep convolutional neural network, “Neocognitron”—a key contribution to the development of artificial intelligence.” Several giants in the field of AI will also be presenting. Click here for program details and registration info.
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School District Summer Program Information - Sign up today!
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The School District of Philadelphia and City of Philadelphia just opened up their Summer 2021 learning opportunities for all district students!
Learn more about all program options:
- Digital Kindergarten Transition Program will be held for 90 minutes a day, 2 days a week from June 28 – July 30. Families will also have the opportunity to engage in optional asynchronous activities throughout the summer. You MUST be registered for Kindergarten to enroll! The application closes May 15. Register for Kindergarten
- In-person programming for students entering grades 1 – 8 will run from June 28 – July 30. Sites are first-come, first-served, so register soon! Sites close by at Locke and Powel/SLAMS School – you don't have to be a student at that school to attend. Programming will run from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Register Today
- High School Student programming will be either in-person, digital, or hybrid. Programs run either from June 28 – July 30 OR July 6 – August 30. These include both academic and high school bridge programs as well as paid internships through WorkReady. Learn more and apply.
Spots are limited so sign up soon and share with your friends and family
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West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning (AFEL) Initiative is proud to be the recipient of a recent William Penn Foundation Great Learning Grant to bring Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) – Sesame Workshops’ high-quality national early learning program – to the West Philadelphia Promise Zone.
The proposed project is a partnership between AFEL and Sesame Workshop to pilot SSIC’s trauma-informed strategies to support social emotional development for children’s Kindergarten readiness. The small pilot will develop a cohort of Master Trainers to implement SSIC workshops with West Philadelphia families and teachers in AFEL Alliance of Childcare sites. Educators and families also will have access to SSIC’s robust online early learning digital resources, e-newsletter and literacy materials.
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