In 2015, Greater West Town Project’s Board Chair, Keith Muhammad, visited the Banner School in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago to see their new collaboration with META24. META24 launches 21st century learning labs in schools and community spaces across the country, with coursework in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) and a focus on entrepreneurship. When Keith saw their work in action, he knew GWTP’s West Town Academy (WTA) needed to partner with META24. GWTP’s Executive Director, Keisha Davis-Johnson, then visited a META24 lab at Community Youth Development Institute on the South Side of Chicago and agreed that WTA students could benefit greatly from META24.
The founder and CEO of META24, Dr. Flavian Prince, has worked in education for more than a decade as a teacher, administrator, and reform advocate. He began META24 as a way to teach core competencies in reading, writing, and math using innovative methods that would seamlessly map onto real-world skills and job opportunities. With this radical transformation of teaching and learning, META24 labs help to engage students who have not been successful in traditional learning environments, which makes them a perfect fit for GWTP’s West Town Academy and the communities we serve. In an interview for this blog, Dr. Prince explained that he “always had an affinity for students who dropped out.” And in regards to their partnership with GWTP, said, “I enjoy the staff, the culture, the kids. One thing I really appreciate about GWTP is the way that they’re identifying big picture problems or gaps and moving quickly to address them.”
META24 has grown tremendously since our first visit in 2015. META24 now has 71 learning labs with 150+ facilitators, and five different learning lab models that can fit into a wide variety of schools and community organizations. One key to their growth has been the recruitment and retention of facilitators of color, with 95% of their facilitators identifying as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC).
In addition to their 21st century learning labs, META24 runs five brick and mortar storefronts for students to market and sell the products they design and create in the learning labs. WTA students participate in the MZUZI Community Store located at 5459 W Chicago Ave. Learn more and shop online at chuzmzuzi.com. You can learn more about META24 at meta24.org. Thank you META24 for all you do for our community and for your excellent partnership with GWTP!