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ENSPIRE MAGAZINE WS20
Scholars & Gentlemen
BY OFFERING CHANCES TO BETTER THEMSELVES , JAY VEAL HAS CEMENTED HIMSELF AND HIS ORGANIZATION AS ARCHITECTS OF YOUNG MINDS - WRITTEN BY LOGAN FLOYD
Jay Veal has been changing the educational landscape for
black students . A man who has worked at every level of the educational system . Veal understands how terribly wide the achievement gap between black and white students in America has become . In response , Veal created It ’ s Not Complicated ( INC ) Tutoring ( now INC Education ), a black-owned private education company dedicated to providing low-income and disadvantaged minority students with the resources they need . Now , Veal has stepped up his efforts , creating Black Tutors of Social Media ( BTSM ), an innovative new program designed to supply struggling students with educational support via social media .
Launching at the end of September , BTSM is a nonprofit education program offering students assistance via six resource categories : Free Tutoring , Mentoring , Financial Literacy , College Tours , Entrepreneurship , and Traveling . The BTSM website will also provide a directory enabling students to locate black-owned tutoring companies across the United States and later globally . The directory will be the first of its kind in the U . S ., boasting the best and most popular black-owned private tutoring companies that are to be found .
“ Because of the students falling behind , they need tutors in order to assist them to fill in the learning gaps ,” Veal said . “ The consistent goal for Black Tutors of Social Media is to close achievement gaps for students that all the tutoring companies encounter within the communities we serve at large .”
BTSM will also help address the lack of role models for students of color . As of now , 85 percent of the educators teaching students of color are white . In contrast , 52 percent of students in public schools are minorities , with this number set to rise above 65 percent in the next two years . INC Education already helps provide students of color with counselors who look like them and can relate to their life experiences . BTSM will continue this , giving minority students mentors who can understand their problems and will advocate for them .
“ The BTSM resource for minorities is vital and important ,” Veal said . “ If our students of color didn ’ t have role models , we can serve as such . If our students couldn ’ t relate to their teachers , they can relate to us and we can give them comfort . If our students didn ’ t have someone in a career they look up to tutoring them , now they can have that .”
The program comes as the achievement gap continues to widen due to COVID-19 , which brought schools across the country to a halt three months before they were supposed to end . Now , children all over the nation have gone without school for five months , and as is so often the case , minority and low-income children have been hit the hardest .
In the face of a huge ongoing problem , Veal has made a valiant effort to change the lives of black and underprivileged students . So far , INC Education has reached thousands of students across the country , and BTSM is set to reach even more . When it comes to fighting against institutional racism and closing the achievement gap , Veal has made impressive strides .