As we are close to wrapping up the year, we have provided a large amount of updates regarding our development initiatives such as Mainsail and the updates across the open-source suite of ARK products. We wanted to take some time to update you on the progress of one of our newer projects – The ARK Blockchain Education Initiative. Read below on the progress we’ve made this year and how we look to bring our open-source tooling and knowledge to the next generation.
ARK Ecosystem SCIC and the ARK Blockchain Education Initiative
As we continue our journey to build a decentralized future, the role of education in fostering understanding and innovation cannot be overstated. At ARK Ecosystem SCIC, we are dedicated to pioneering blockchain technology that is not only open and accessible but also transformative. It is with great pride that I introduce our ARK Blockchain Education Initiative—an endeavor that deeply aligns with our mission to democratize technology through community engagement and education.
Launched earlier this year, this initiative represents a significant step forward in our commitment to empowering the next generation of technologists, thinkers, and leaders. By bringing blockchain education to students, particularly starting with those in Florida, we aim to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in a decentralized world.
The progress made through the ARK Blockchain Education Initiative, as detailed in the following article, underscores the potential of collaborative educational efforts. Our engagements with legislators, educators, and technology leaders across various counties have not only facilitated meaningful discussions but have also sparked interest and excitement around the possibilities of blockchain technology. The progress you will read about below was made in no small part by Ryan Haczynski, ARK’s Blockchain Education Liaison. His tireless efforts in communicating the vision of ARK and how we can leverage our knowledge and tools to help others have been vital.
“As you read about our initiatives and achievements, remember that each step we take is part of a larger vision—a vision where technology serves as a bridge rather than a barrier, and where every individual has the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from an open digital economy. We are just getting started, and I am enthusiastic about the future we are building together.” – Ray Alvarez, ARK Ecosystem SCIC, CEO
Below is Ryan Haczynski’s recap of our efforts thus far:
Starting the ARK Blockchain Education Initiative and our Progress
The ARK Blockchain Education Initiative began in earnest in July of this year and focuses on bringing blockchain technology to the masses through education, starting with students in Florida. I have been tapped by the ARK leadership team to spearhead this effort due to my time as a former educator with two decades of classroom experience in Tampa, Florida. Transitioning from teaching to the blockchain industry, it is my honor to now serve as the ARK Blockchain Education Liaison. In this role, I have been actively engaging with state legislators and county-level school board members to integrate blockchain education into school curricula, aiming to empower the next generation with knowledge of decentralized technologies.
This initial announcement and blog entry will be part of an ongoing effort to document ARK’s educational mission as we move through the months and years ahead. Here are some of the highlights of those early efforts and how they have helped ARK already gain traction and mindshare among Florida’s education leaders.
July 2024
I came aboard and quickly compiled a list of all the legislators in both the House and Senate that have any representation or overlap in Hillsborough County. This is where I worked for nearly two decades and still have relationships from previous education advocacy efforts. Through numerous emails and phone calls to legislative offices, I was able to open doors of dialogue with both sides of the legislature, having my first meeting with Representative Alvarez’s office before the end of the month.
August 2024
With this first meeting out of the way and after many follow-up emails and phone calls, I pivoted my attention to speaking before local school boards, starting with my home county of Hillsborough. On the same day, I held a meeting with Representative Gonzalez-Pittman’s office, I then addressed the Hillsborough School Board and spoke of the need to incorporate blockchain education in classrooms to prepare students for the future that they would soon inherit.
Later that month, Representative Chaney and her staff invited me to an hour-long meeting to ask lots of questions about blockchain technology and how it could impact Florida’s future. It became clear that every legislator with whom I had spoken up to this point did not know much–if anything–about blockchain technology itself, let alone the businesses that were already operating in the Sunshine State.
After spending significant time doing research and gathering all the pertinent data, the ARK team created this incredible info-graphic one-pager that was sent as a follow-up to all legislators and the school boards in Hillsborough and all of its contiguous counties (5 in total, serving nearly half a million students combined). This simple PDF generated even more interest and conversation, which led to some serendipitous meetings in turn.
September 2024
After promising meetings with the Chief Information Officer of Hillsborough and Member Vaughn to discuss a potential Saturday seminar at one of the high schools in her district, I then addressed Pinellas Schools on the other side of Tampa Bay. Fascinated by what I had to say, I was approached by Keith Mastorides, the Chief Technology Officer who wanted to hear more about what ARK had to offer.
Meeting later in the month, I created a lesson to deliver to Keith and a few other Pinellas leaders from the Superintendent’s staff, which led to a series of questions about how these ideas could be implemented on a small scale at one or two of the local high schools that specialize in technology education. We also discussed ideas about how ARK would be a good candidate for summer camps that are hosted across Pinellas and future meetings will help shape the curriculum for these opportunities.
October 2024
Due to my primary role as Director of Protocol Relations for an enterprise-grade infrastructure provider, my wife Erin and I were extended an invitation to a Web3 panel discussion at the Dali Museum that featured Cathie Wood of Ark Invest as the moderator. Unbeknownst to me, however, we were also later invited to a private dinner in an intimate setting where I brought up my work as the ARK Blockchain Education Liaison.
Not only is Cathie Wood a famous proponent of blockchain technology, but she is also a philanthropist who believes in the power of education. She could not believe that her own charitable organization, Ark-Educate , shared a similar name as a blockchain protocol, but was beyond thrilled to learn of the ARK Blockchain Education Initiative and suggested our two organizations work together. This in turn led to a meeting with Dr. Mike Grego, the former Superintendent of Pinellas Schools who is now the ARK Education Managing Director, and the two Arks are in the process of building future collaborative efforts.
November 2024
With many incredible connections established and meetings held, I continued to keep all legislators apprised of ARK’s efforts while simultaneously starting new outreach efforts in Manatee County to the south of Hillsborough. Knowing that Cathie Wood’s Ark-Educate organization is already working with Manatee Schools to provide after-school enrichment programs and summer camps covering a range of STEM-related content, I wanted to speak before the board and let them know ARK is here to help their students as well. As of this writing, the chair of the board has reached out to me and additional meetings and conversations will happen next month.
To close out the month of November in the most positive manner possible, I arranged to have our own CEO, Ray Alvarez, conduct a career showcase as part of the charity work I do with Think Big for Kids!, an organization focused on helping disadvantaged middle school students think about what they want to do later in life. Ray provided an excellent overview of blockchain technology, and how it works, and connected with the kids over video games, and asset ownership (e.g Fortnite skins), and then he and I held a version of Shark Tank to hear how the kids could improve their business ideas by adopting blockchain.
As a final gesture to close out the event, the ARK SCIC donated 10 Acer Chromebooks to the program, which were eagerly accepted by TBK Executive Director, Amy Alley. The kids certainly had a great time throughout the event, and Ray and I may return in the spring semester to have the kids engage in a hands-on opportunity via computer to get an even better understanding of building on the blockchain.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for more monthly updates starting in December when I will travel to Polk County to speak before their school board, and then Ray and I will visit with the Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Burgess, before closing out the month in Washington DC attending the Blockchain Association Summit .
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