5 Committed Groups Promoting And Improving Education

Education is the foundation for a future career, as well as life in general. Unfortunately, students often encounter various obstacles such as language barriers and financial difficulties during the learning process. In no particular order, here are several organizations working to reduce such hurdles and make education more accessible.

First up at #1 is TalkingPoints, a multilingual texting platform that aims to increase family engagement in children's education through the use of technology. The company's founder, Heejae Lim, learned from her own experience that families have an enormous influence on their children's education, and that immigrant and low-income parents face specific challenges when supporting their kids in school.

The free TalkingPoints platform allows teachers to communicate directly with parents, eliminating the language barrier through automatic translation software. This allows parents to be more directly involved with their children's education, and reduces the learning gap between native English speakers and families for whom English is a second language.

Next up at #2 is CITY Center for Collaborative Learning, located in Tucson, Arizona. The organization strives to design exemplary practices in teaching, and to then implement those practices by providing professional development and community engagement to educators, principals, and other leaders. Among the group's areas of expertise are project-based and social and emotional learning, as well as public pedagogical demonstrations.

CITY has three flagship secondary schools that implement its innovative practices. The institutions are small by design in order to achieve a high level of personalization. This way, teachers know their students well enough to provide a mentoring relationship to each and every one of them. CITY also partners with the Las Milpitas de Cottonwood Community Farm, an important component of its farm to school program.

At #3 is Trellis Company, formerly known as Texas Guaranteed Student Loans. This company helps student borrowers increase their financial literacy and pay back their education loans by providing a financial education at no cost to colleges in Texas. The program covers topics such as smart borrowing practices, investing, and how to monitor personal finances.

In 2017, the company established the Trellis Foundation with the goal of reducing the educational disparities that prevent low-income students and students of color from achieving success. The Foundation carries out its mission by making donations to non-profit organizations and higher education institutions working to improve the rates of post-secondary school completion in Texas.

Next at #4 is For Love of Children, also known as FLOC. The nonprofit provides educational services outside the classroom that help students from first grade through college succeed in school. FLOC provides these services at no cost for students from low-resource families in West Virginia and Washington, DC.

The organization's Neighborhood Tutoring Program helps students in second through twelfth grade increase their competency in reading and math with one-on-one attention. Meanwhile, the City Leaders Program serves students in eighth grade all the way through college, giving them opportunities to gain the skills needed to graduate from high school and pursue a higher education.

Last up at #5 is FUSS, which stands for Fremont Unified Student Store. It was founded in 2012 in response to the continuous economic challenges faced by the Fremont Unified School District in California. In order to support the District, this non-profit organization partners with community businesses to create a variety of fundraising events that take place throughout the year.

FUSS also provides internships to students, giving them opportunities to get involved with its charity events. Community members are given the chance to volunteer in whatever way they feel comfortable, with opportunities ranging from tutoring programs to selling items on the FUSS e-store.