Renaissance Jax is building a workforce of highly skilled, instantly employable residents trained in technology fields, ultimately driving systemic change, augmented by economic development.
Renaissance Jax believes every child should have access to the education and experience needed to enter an ever-changing workforce, providing businesses and corporations with employees who are knowledgeable of an industry and come equipped with mentorship and practical experience. Program participants add immense value to their employers by leveraging personal attributes learned through Renaissance Jax’s
FIRST
expansion, such as collaboration, project and time management, and the ability to communicate effectively.
In 7 years, we have grown from a few teams in one county to more than 4,000 participants across four programs in 28 counties. More than half of our participants are enrolled in Title I schools and in Northeast Florida alone, we have 40% female participation with
FIRST
LEGO League Challenge.
Renaissance Jax believes every child should have access to the education and experience needed to enter an ever-changing workforce. Renaissance Jax models FIRST’s commitment and best practices, offering an inclusive experience, which allows boys and girls of all ages to enroll in the program at any time during primary or secondary education. Our goal is to enable them to grow up to solve the world’s most pressing problems, be strong citizens, and build a brighter future1.
FIRST, in collaboration with the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE), has developed a complimentary, three-part Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion training module course for coaches, mentors, volunteers, partners and other key stakeholders who work directly with students. Those who complete the training are equipped with specific strategies to support community outreach, student participation, persistence, engagement, and success2.
Additionally,
FIRST
has prioritized the access and involvement of underrepresented, underserved and vulnerable youth in its programs. Renaissance Jax is equally committed to this prioritization of underrepresented, underserved and vulnerable youth. Minorities who participate are two times more likely to pursue careers in engineering and STEM-related fields; girls are four times as likely.
Children participating in
FIRST
are proven to have higher class attendance, grades, and have a 99% graduation rate. Once enrolled in a
FIRST
program, 88% of students are more interested in excelling in school, and 87% are more interested in pursuing college3.
1 https://www.firstinspires.org/about/diversityinclusion
2 Inspiring Success: Access Training Modules, https://www.firstinspires.org/about/diversityinclusion