Waterbury Project
MC² Technology, Inc. Is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded by Samuel Cephas. The mission of MC² Technology, Inc. Is to provide a comprehensive year-round after school program for students which focuses on educational enrichment, esteem building, and the performing arts. MC² achieves its mission through the provision of educational tutoring, financial education, life skills, and career development through the arts/entertainment field. The program design is one that is comprised of 75% education and 25% on the arts. Since 2015, MC² Technology, Inc. has partnered with New Opportunities, Inc. the local social service provider agency for the Waterbury community to bring an innovative project to at-risk youth in the Waterbury community.
The program will provide 20 hours of instruction per week and is a STEAM based model which focuses its educational component on Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math while also focusing on financial education skill development, teaching foundational skills for entrepreneurship, career development, and post-secondary educational achievement. The program will also provide food and transportation services for participants at every group meeting. The program will provide quarterly field trips designed to enrich the lives of young people and expose them to the world of arts/entertainment, financial professionals, and other identified career paths. The arts and entertainment component of the project takes place on Saturdays through workshops which will include a look at both the onstage performing arts opportunities and the behind-the-scenes work including producing, directing, set design, stage management, public relations, lighting and sound, marketing, sales, and legal.
These workshops will also include guest speakers and will be delivered at the Palace Theater. One of the Palace Theater's primary objectives involves working closely with local academic institutions agencies on the development of exemplary arts and education programs that instill today's youth with a passion for the arts while benefiting them socially, personally, and academically. The programming sets out a career path that youth can focus on as they move through their four-year involvement with the project. The incorporation of the arts into the STEAM based project model is a concept that is not currently available to this at-risk population. All these program components work together to support the child outcomes identified by the program which include both academic and social gains.
The program has also developed a partnership with the University of Connecticut to provide student interns to support the capacity of the program including marketing, public relations, and tutorial support. These collaborative partnerships will make a difference in the lives of young people in our community.