Caine Monroy. Photo courtesy Caine's Arcade.
Imagination Foundation: Last October, the world was invited to play in Caine’s Arcade, an arcade built out of cardboard, packing tape and imagination by a nine-year-old boy from East Los Angeles. Since filmmaker Nirvan Mullick made a short film about Caine and the amazing toys he built in his father’s car parts storefront, thousands of people have visited the arcade and donated enough money to pay for Caine’s college education. And millions of children have been inspired to invent their own wonderful games out of boxes and dreams. Mullick also created the Imagination Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “finding, fostering and funding creativity and entrepreneurship in kids.”
So this October 6, exactly one year since Caine’s Arcade became an online sensation, the Imagination Foundation is hosting the “Global Cardboard Challenge.” Children and adults from around the world are invited to get creative and build their own toys out of cardboard and share them with their communities. Visit the Imagination Foundation’s website to organize a Global Cardboard Challenge event in your neighborhood, or learn where you can play!
Chronicle of Philanthropy: Thanksgiving is the official kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Right after we’re done digesting all that turkey and mashed potatoes, there’s Black Friday and a weekend of deals. Then there is Cyber Monday. And now there’s…Giving Tuesday?
This holiday season, nonprofits across America are encouraging shoppers to open their wallets for donations, rather than presents. Organizations like Charity: Water, GlobalGiving, Kiva and the United Nations Foundation are spreading the word through social media, and are using the hashtag #GivingTuesday on Twitter.
Do you think an event like Giving Tuesday could catch on with consumers, like Cyber Monday has? Sound off in our comments section.
Education Week: While the four-year graduation rate for black males has been on the uptick over the last decade, a study released Wednesday morning revealed that they still have a long way to go before they are at the same level as their Hispanic and white peers.
The study, conducted by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, revealed that during the 2009-2010 school year, 52 percent of black males graduated from high school with a regular diploma within four years. In that same span of time, 58 percent of Hispanic males graduated, and 78 percent of white males got their diplomas. In 10 years, the achievement gap between black males and white males has only closed by three percent.
“We recognize the progress, but at that rate it would take over 50 years for black males to be on par with white, non-Hispanic males,” said John H. Jackson, president and chief executive officer of the Schott Foundation.
The study offers numerous reasons to explain the achievement gap, and what schools across America can do to close it once and for all. Read the full report on the Schott Foundation’s website.
