The Clarksdale VRCenter and Academy was started in the spring of 2017 and is the outcome of five years of research and development with Virtual Reality Technology and working with youth in the hi-tech industry. Its mission is to practice Social Entrepreneurism by training and employing impoverished youth in Coahoma County in a VR Production Studio business. The youth are being trained in a variety of technologies and skills required to develop and market virtual reality experiences. These skills transfer to both computer software development as well as movie and video production, providing these young people a number of exciting employment paths for their future.
The grant provides youth from challenged schools the opportunity to learn and use technologies and skills that would otherwise not be available to them. The skills learned at the VRCenter will make students highly desired in today’s and the future’s technology marketplace. Grant funds will be used for the procurement of equipment, software assets, and infrastructure. The goal is an ongoing program where the primary measureable objective is to have the program participants develop and market a VR Experience thus demonstrating that they have learned the technology and acquired the skills.
“The Community Foundation is proud to support Clarksdale Virtual Reality Center”, said Community Foundation President Tom Pittman. “The skills taught at the VRCenter are great assets for the future of these young people.”