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The creators of a proposed reality television show that puts the spotlight on African-American teenagers who love STEM disciplines have launched a new crowdfunding campaign to support their project.
The family-audience reality TV show, Hood Smart: The Urban STEMulus Project, features 15 high school scholars who compete in science, technology, engineering, and math-related challenges for a full-ride college scholarship.
Last month, an UrbanGeekz.com report on the innovative initiative made waves across social media, with Trendolizer’s automated technology detecting our article as a trending story on social network sites.
Ateya Ball-Lacy, the creator and executive producer of Hood Smart, has re-launched the campaign to raise money for their first season of the show. Anyone can go to indiegogo.com to donate money towards production costs and access more information.
“The thinking behind the crowdfunding campaign is to produce our own season so we can maintain the integrity of the show,” said Ball-Lacy, an assistant principal for a middle school in Maryland. “If we go to the network then they would be able to change the show around to fit their specific needs and we want to make sure we maintain the integrity of the messages we are trying to send.”
One of Ball-Lacy’s goals is to shift the focus from the negative images we often see on reality television to highlighting and celebrating the creative genius of students growing up in urban communities all across America.
“Through this revolutionary reality show, we intend to change the image of urban America by providing a platform for African American youth to observe, celebrate and ultimately emulate the academic prowess of their peers, all before a live national T.V. audience,” she said.
“We really need people to donate to our campaign because every dime of their donation will go towards the production of season one.”
Ball-Lacy is hoping to be able to rely on the community’s support to help her in raising funds for the first season. She can’t afford to pay for an entire season on her own.
“There is a lot of excitement for the show so we really need those people to come out and donate and support us monetarily,” she said. “No amount is too small so whatever you can give will definitely be appreciated.”
Follow Helena Joseph on Twitter@helena_josep
