What is LevelUp Academy?
We are an after-school program embedded in a lower-income housing project. Our no-cost program provides on-site tutoring, job assistance, leadership training, and social support. We use B-Corp’s “Benefit Company” requirements to guide our decisions and monitor our progress.
Or, to say it more plainly, we are a bunch of punks who take care of each other. Since 2015, We eat fruit snacks, play Super Smash Bros, and sometimes markers are thrown.
We are now back to regular hours as of the 2022-2023 school year! Unless a pandemic wreaks havoc, I will be here
Monday-Thursday 2:30pm-10pm and Fridays 2:30pm-6:30pm.
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Ya, but who are you?
I am a punk that loves anime, video games, and learning. Kids could say I am “hip” or “rad” but I say it enough for them. School work shouldn’t have to be boring or too difficult and that’s why I am here! At LevelUp Academy, we count subtitled anime as reading, draw equations on tables, and celebrate completed homework by battling as our favorite Smash Bros. characters.
You can find my dog, Daisy, a five pound terror who loves stealing snacks and getting pets at LevelUp from time to time as well!
Then, who founded LUA?
My mentor, an older punk, had the big brain to build a program to help create a safe space for kiddos to complete homework and goof off! This person has an idea for a new project daily and acts on it. They are the foundation of LevelUp’s classroom culture. We call their time in the classroom at LUA season one (2015-2022).
Do not cry, they are still supporting LevelUp in the background and you can find them stopping by from time to time.
So, welcome to LUA season two!
And where’s the money?
An even older punk than my mentor, who has a lot more experience at being kind to the world, funds the program. He said to us
“Here is a classroom, here are some laptops, figure something out to help these kids before they graduate high school.”
So, a specific non-profit foots the bill and makes sure that we’re not just lost in the sea. He’s a good guy.
We are not looking for volunteers at the moment, but we do need experiences and opportunities. Especially, if you have a trade career or cooking openings for high school students.
