Education advocates have worked to ensure K-12 curriculums are more in line with real-world expectations for years. One of the most pointed topics for curriculum redesign has been the inclusion of classes related to financial literacy. In 2022, the National Endowment for Financial Education released a report highlighting the nationwide efforts to make this advocacy work a reality for students. And for some who attend a historically Black school in North Carolina, that reality has been leveled up. Hands-on instruction has taken on a new meaning for the students of Hillside High School as it has opened a bank on its campus in Durham.

For NBA 2K fans in high school, it’s officially your time to shine. After a partnership between Publisher 2K and Black-owned esports company PlayVS, the popular basketball video game is on its way to becoming a high school varsity esport in the U.S. and Canada, Forbes reports. In the spring, NBA 2K will be added to PlayVS for gamers to begin their online matches. Keeping in mind the reality that everyone doesn’t have the ability to play contact sports, the new partnership aims to provide more inclusivity for students, along with helping to improve attendance, grades and graduation rates — even as far as eventually competing at collegiate and professional levels. “Bringing NBA 2K, one of the most highly demanded titles among our player base, to high schools across the country is a monumental opportunity in scholastic esports,” PlayVS founder and CEO Delane Parnell said in a statement. “Since the founding of PlayVS, it has been our vision to grow esports opportunities at the high...

Dr. Dre and his longtime collaborator, Jimmy Iovine, have announced that they’ve teamed up yet again. But this time, their collaboration isn’t a musical one (well, not exactly, anyway). According to the Los Angeles Times, who was the first to break the story, the rapper-turned-mogul and the music industry veteran will be launching a new public school in South Central Los Angeles. The school, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, will be focused on the entrepreneurial spirit that propelled both these men to success from the 1980s on. “[I want to reach] the inner-city kid, the younger me,” Dr. Dre said to the Los Angeles Times. “Here’s a place that you can go where there’s something that you can learn that you’re really interested in.” The Los Angeles County Board of Education approved the plans for the school, and Iovine was very specific about providing the prospective students an opportunity to work for some of the coolest companies in the world. What’s more, he said,...

Rapper Lil Baby takes his turn to give back. The 25-year-old Atlanta native recently secured his first no. 1 album with his sophomore album, “My Turn.” Amid his chart-topping success, he launched a $150,000 scholarship fund of the same name during a surprise visit to Booker T. Washington High School. Earlier this month, Lil Baby returned to his former high school to gift the education institution with a check to help high-achieving students attend college. One recipient, Vachon Raye, Jr., hopes to attend an ivy league school, reports WSB-TV Atlanta . “Him coming back here. Why would he want to come here? To give back. For him to give back, really impact for me,” Raye told WSB-TV. The program is in partnership with Amazon Music’s Rap Rotation, Quality Control Music, Wolfpack Global, and Motown Records. “A majority of the students in these neighborhoods, when they have good grades most of them don’t have support,” he told Billboard. “They don’t have a family who can afford to [send...

Esports are the next wave — and they’re about to be even bigger and more accessible thanks to PlayVS (which is pronounced “play versus”) receiving $15 million in Series A funding. “In the beginning, our goal wasn’t even necessarily to advocate for video games,” says Delane Parnell, Founder of PlayVS, “We looked at the current landscape and realized there was a huge gap in the market. There are millions of amateur gamers out there who want to compete. The most important demographic within this segment is high schoolers. Until now, there was no way for them to actually compete. We are going to provide that venue in a supervised, safe environment that makes them part of something larger.” PlayVS is an online portal that helps students, administrators and recruiters connect where matches are set and scheduled and statistics are tracked to help regulate high school esports. PlayVS began by partnering with the National Federation of High School Associations to build out the high school...