Digital Vision Program » Marvin Hall

	Marvin Hall Robotics Stimul-I Robotics competitions have been used to improve the math, science, and creative thinking skills of youth in the United States for more than a decade. RDVP candidate Marvin Hall uses this technique to capture the imagination of at-risk youth in inner cities in small, developing countries. Hall’s workshops culminate in a robotics exhibition for the community and provide a well needed form of positive recognition for these youth. Hall, the founder of Halls of Learning robotics training center, has provided scholarships for 150 youth to attend his robotics courses and has brought a Jamaican robotic team to an international competition. Hall will construct Robotics Learning Centers in communities, which will also contribute to IT access for the community at large. More information on Halls of Learning is available at http://www.hallsoflearning.com/ Bio I am the first of two children from a middle class Jamaican family. My parents separated and so I grew up in a home with my mother, sister and grandparents. Neither parent attended university, but afforded us education at the top institutions in Jamaica, where I played on winning soccer teams. Upon completing my Masters in Holland, I returned to Jamaica to the birth of my son and began to pursue 2 teaching positions; full-time at an inner city school, part-time at the university. I fell in love with teaching, became a trained teacher, pursued higher learning, taught both inner city and affluent children, continually pursued professional development, taught teachers about technology, sought out and partnered with some of the best educational minds and institutions and left the formal classroom to strive for my visions of education with hope to inspire a learning revolution in my country. It will not be sufficient until I inspire, empower and draw out, more like me in the greatest numbers. Through my brainchild, Halls of Learning, I plan to fulfill a dream that was born of a desire to build a high school for my son, and has evolved into a chain of K-12 schools opening in 2010. As a DV fellow, I will gain exposure to more like-minded individuals and use these interactions to help shape the outcome of my vision. I look forward to becoming a part of a supportive network and community that will accelerate my growth, and ability to implement conceived projects. (http://www.hallsoflearning.com) Halls of Learning is committed to providing the highest quality educational experiences for young people, equal to, or exceeding international standards. We believe that every child, regardless of background, must be given access to high quality experiences in learning. Ultimately, the DV fellowship will expand my thinking, while securing greater access to organizations that can become partners in the vision so that within 10 years, Halls of Learning will become one of the most influential educational forces in Jamaica. In our last project, we setup a learning space in one of the most violent and underserved areas of Kingston, aiming to prepare 11 of the scholarship awardees for a LEGO robotics competition in California. I played several roles including: coach, manager, coordinator, instructor and mentor, and provided the startup funding out of pocket. I was most inspired by the commitment of the team to attend training, in the face continuous gun battles that claimed the lives of over 50 persons, including loved ones. Their continued hope, and subsequent bond, fueled my drive to make the project a success. (http://hallsoflearning.blogspot.com) This project culminated with life changing experiences for a group of inner city kids: a tour of, and lunch at the Google campus; receiving an award at the robotics competition, a visit to The Tech museum, travel outside of Jamaica for the first time and broader horizons for the rest of their lives. For me, I gained the trust of a community and the mission evolved yet again. Robotics Stimul-I continues the mission. Send an email to Marvin Hall

Marvin Hall

Robotics Stimul-I

Robotics competitions have been used to improve the math, science, and creative thinking skills of youth in the United States for more than a decade. RDVP candidate Marvin Hall uses this technique to capture the imagination of at-risk youth in inner cities in small, developing countries. Hall’s workshops culminate in a robotics exhibition for the community and provide a well needed form of positive recognition for these youth. Hall, the founder of Halls of Learning robotics training center, has provided scholarships for 150 youth to attend his robotics courses and has brought a Jamaican robotic team to an international competition. Hall will construct Robotics Learning Centers in communities, which will also contribute to IT access for the community at large. More information on Halls of Learning is available at http://www.hallsoflearning.com/

Bio

I am the first of two children from a middle class Jamaican family. My parents separated and so I grew up in a home with my mother, sister and grandparents. Neither parent attended university, but afforded us education at the top institutions in Jamaica, where I played on winning soccer teams.

Upon completing my Masters in Holland, I returned to Jamaica to the birth of my son and began to pursue 2 teaching positions; full-time at an inner city school, part-time at the university.

I fell in love with teaching, became a trained teacher, pursued higher learning, taught both inner city and affluent children, continually pursued professional development, taught teachers about technology, sought out and partnered with some of the best educational minds and institutions and left the formal classroom to strive for my visions of education with hope to inspire a learning revolution in my country. It will not be sufficient until I inspire, empower and draw out, more like me in the greatest numbers.

Through my brainchild, Halls of Learning, I plan to fulfill a dream that was born of a desire to build a high school for my son, and has evolved into a chain of K-12 schools opening in 2010. As a DV fellow, I will gain exposure to more like-minded individuals and use these interactions to help shape the outcome of my vision. I look forward to becoming a part of a supportive network and community that will accelerate my growth, and ability to implement conceived projects.

(http://www.hallsoflearning.com)

Halls of Learning is committed to providing the highest quality educational experiences for young people, equal to, or exceeding international standards. We believe that every child, regardless of background, must be given access to high quality experiences in learning.

Ultimately, the DV fellowship will expand my thinking, while securing greater access to organizations that can become partners in the vision so that within 10 years, Halls of Learning will become one of the most influential educational forces in Jamaica.

In our last project, we setup a learning space in one of the most violent and underserved areas of Kingston, aiming to prepare 11 of the scholarship awardees for a LEGO robotics competition in California. I played several roles including: coach, manager, coordinator, instructor and mentor, and provided the startup funding out of pocket. I was most inspired by the commitment of the team to attend training, in the face continuous gun battles that claimed the lives of over 50 persons, including loved ones. Their continued hope, and subsequent bond, fueled my drive to make the project a success.

(http://hallsoflearning.blogspot.com)

This project culminated with life changing experiences for a group of inner city kids: a tour of, and lunch at the Google campus; receiving an award at the robotics competition, a visit to The Tech museum, travel outside of Jamaica for the first time and broader horizons for the rest of their lives. For me, I gained the trust of a community and the mission evolved yet again.

Robotics Stimul-I continues the mission.

Send an email to Marvin Hall