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Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Tanisha
Wheeler and Stephanie Gilchrist of Inspiring Minds Youngstown sat down with us
to talk about their first month at the Glenwood Business Center.
Tanisha has
been with Inspiring Minds for about two years and Stephanie served on the board
then became Executive Director last year. Inspiring Minds Youngstown is an
after school and summer enrichment program that focuses on professional
development, creative education, and college preparation for at-risk and
underserved youth in the City of Youngstown. Inspiring Minds started in the
Warren area in 2006 and the Youngstown branch was the first to expand about
four years ago. A branch has since been opened in Philadelphia and branches
plan to open in New York and Raleigh, NC in 2019. Stephanie and Tanisha saw
there was a demand for high school programming in the area and decided they
needed their own space after running the programming at area schools. Tanisha
says the Glenwood Business Center has been the perfect space for Inspiring
Minds, allowing students to gather in common areas then break out into separate
spaces to work on creative projects or homework. While we were there, students
were busy recording an Inspiring Minds podcast in the music room. Stephanie says
that the open-ended creative projects are intended to inspire an entrepreneurial
spirit in the students and encourage them to take charge of their own futures. She
says the students really appreciate that a space has been dedicated just for
them. We’d like to thank Tanisha and Stephanie for sitting down with us and
wish them luck as they continue Inspiring Minds Youngstown programming at the
Glenwood Business Center.