Yellowbrick and Complex to Support Teachers and Parents Impacted by School Closures by Offering Career Discovery Content for Free

NEW YORK, March 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New York-based education platform company Yellowbrick, in partnership with global lifestyle and leading youth culture brand Complex, today announced that it will be making content from its Sneaker Essentials online career discovery course available for free to parents of middle and high school students, as well as their teachers who are implementing distance learning plans in the wake of COVID-19 school closures. Accessible entirely for free by visiting www.yellowbrick.co/PTE, the course content and materials have already shown measurable success in New York City-based public school pilot programs.

"Parents and educators face a significant challenge right now: keeping students engaged with their studies when schools are closed," said Rob Kingyens, Founder of Yellowbrick. "While there are numerous resources to address core curricula, there are very few that use passion as a key building block. Because this course was designed to stoke existing interest in sneakers and culture, it enables parents and teachers to engage students more effectively."

Although initially created to help professionals learn how to transition their personal passions into career options, this Yellowbrick program has been adapted and piloted in public schools in New York and Los Angeles to help engage students in their academics and career discovery. This program also provides a unique interdisciplinary STEAM learning experience that can be integrated into a variety of educational settings and subject areas. These programs have received great feedback from teachers and principals; like those from the Meyer Levin Middle School in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

"We started with Yellowbrick's Sneaker Essentials materials in our classes and you could just see our kids come alive with the subject matter," explained James Passantino, a teacher at Meyer Levin. "We're exposing them to the work behind something they already love - sneakers. When we incorporate that into subjects like Literature, History, Math, and Art, you see the light bulbs go on much faster. As we start teaching these kids remotely, this heightened engagement is going to be crucial in keeping them motivated."

Yellowbrick courses have been developed in partnership with top universities and media brands. Sneaker Essentials, developed jointly with Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Complex, enhances career discovery and career readiness for the Sneaker Industry. In the course materials, flexible online learning modules and associated self-paced activities combine to build upon student passions and enable further development of STEAM-related skills in a real-world context. For example, the course teaches data manipulation by challenging students to track and chart sneaker prices, graphing and averaging their value over time. Overall, the program offers a unique project-based approach to understanding product design, distribution, marketing, and social media through the lens of the sneaker industry.

"The Sneakers market is now so woven into the fabric of popular culture, and Complex's DNA as the authority in this space, that it's no longer just a fad or a niche but has joined other multi-billion dollar industries like sports, fashion, entertainment and gaming as areas of professional interests for young people today," said Joe La Puma, host of Complex's 'Sneaker Shopping' and SVP of Content Strategy.

"Since our beginning, we've been committed to giving a platform to and championing the next," added Justin Killion, EVP of Development, Production and Distribution, "This mission extends into how we empower emerging talent and students of all ages to realize their goals of breaking into areas of popular culture, including sneakers and streetwear.

Parents and teachers are invited to access "Sneaker Essentials: Parents and Teachers Edition" by visiting www.yellowbrick.co/PTE

About Yellowbrick

Yellowbrick's platform empowers motivated learners to explore their passions.  We've partnered with the best brands in media, culture, and education, to develop online courses that demystify industries like Music, Fashion, Sneakers, Sports, and Hospitality. Together, we're helping a new generation of talent discover career paths that are aligned with the things they love. Find out more at www.yellowbrick.co.

About Complex

Complex Networks champions the people, brands and new trends you need to know now, will obsess over next, and we build consumer universes around them. We're what a modern entertainment company looks like and what others have followed since 2002. From pop culture and style (Complex), food entertainment (First We Feast), music discovery (Pigeons and Planes), sneaker news (Sole Collector) to our festival of cultural convergence (ComplexCon) -- if you want to be part of what's next and build valuable relationships with the audiences who live in it, join us at Complex Networks.

Complex Networks, formed from the acquisition of Complex Media Inc. through a joint venture by Verizon and Hearst, creates and distributes original programming with premium distributors including Netflix, Hulu, Corus, Facebook, Snap, MSG, Fuse, Pluto TV, Roku and more. Our content spans across music to movies, sports to video games, fashion to food, and more. We reach the coveted 18-34-year-old male audience and are a Top 3 entertainment network for females 18-34 in the U.S., per comScore. In 2016, Complex Networks launched ComplexCon in Long Beach, California, to bring the "Internet to life." The annual two-day festival attracts over 200 brands, artists, exclusive collaborations, food vendors, and over 60,000 attendees.

SOURCE Yellowbrick

Related Links

http://www.yellowbrick.co