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Philly daily roundup: Minecraft in a Philly school; PTW kicks off; Tech and art happy hour

Plus, nominate someone for the University City Science Center's annual Nucleus Awards.

Technical.ly CEO Chris Wink accepting the Information Technology Innovator Award at Temple University's annual IBIT Awards (Sarah Huffman/Technical.ly)

Philly kids play Minecraft to learn STEM

Brandon Washington set out four years ago to launch a collaborative community space in South Philly called 1901 that offered STEM education opportunities to local youth.

After four years of ups and downs, Washington is finally seeing his goal come to life via an after-school esports program for fifth graders at Our Lady of Port Richmond. The program focuses on the world-building game Minecraft and exposes the kids to team building exercises and other lessons.

➡️Read more about Washington’s journey to launching esports programming for youth

PTW is back with a new impactful partnership

The last few years have brought a shift to the Philly tech community, changing the way we think about technology and equitable communities. This shift inspired the partnership between Technical.ly and 1Philadelphia for the 14th annual Philly Tech Week.

This year’s celebration includes over 50 events that speak to the future of work and how diverse communities can be at the forefront of what’s to come, said executive director Danae Mobley.

➡️Read more about what to expect from PTW24

News Incubator: What else to know today

•  Q1 2024 saw the lowest VC funding for life sciences companies in the last 10 years, according to a report from real estate service company JLL. [JLL]

•  Join the waitlist for cohort two of DiverseForce’s GameChangers accelerator. This membership curriculum teaches participants about current trends with technology and AI. [DiverseForce/Technical.ly]

•  The University City Science Center is accepting nominations for its annual Nucleus Awards. These awards honor four innovation leaders who are commercializing technology, allocating capital, convening their community and cultivating the workforce. [The Science Center/Technical.ly]

• Check out the events on this year’s Philly Tech Week calendar! The festivities officially kick off on Friday with the PTW24 Kickoff Event hosted by 1Philadelphia at uCity Square. [PTW]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Check out the Tech and Art Happy Hour on May 3 at 5 p.m. [Register Here]

• AI Philly is hosting a AI Help Desk meetup on Monday May 6 at 5:30 p.m. [More Details]

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.

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