Make Your Mark: The Insignia™ Blog

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What do you get when you combine the Magic Johnson Empowerment Center in Harlem, with Best Buy, Insignia and Geek Squad?  A connected classroom of course!  To view the video of this event - click here
 
Best Buy and Magic Johnson Enterprises have formed a strategic partnership in support of urban development and community enrichment programs.  The Magic Johnson Foundation Community Empowerment Center in Harlem, and Best Buy teamed up initially for recruiting for the new local Best Buy store.  Best Buy staffed their store with local employees from the community, and the relationship has continued to grow.  
 
On March 26, 2010, the Empowerment Center located in Taino Towers, unveiled their new connected classroom, courtesy of Best Buy and Insignia.  The new classroom engages the community with learning tools to more effectively train people for the challenges of school and work environments.  The updated classroom also expands the curriculum of the classes the center can offer. The center currently offers classes in Microsoft Office as well as computer repair with twice daily classes for adults and an afterschool program for the kids during the school year – they hope to offer more classes in the near future.  There are seminar type classes as well as semester long classes – and they service both the adults and children.  
 
The partnership is anticipated to grow with Blue Shirts supporting some after-school tutoring, employment-skills training and teaching some of the classes at the center.  
 
The center also offers summer programs through a summer day camp from 9-5PM and a week during the summer is dedicated to Geek Squad Summer Academy, which is the highlight of the summer for a lot of the kids and the Geek Squad team members alike.  Kids learn how to actually build a computer and develop their own audio and video content.

The center is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as:
 

• Insignia HDTVs for group learning scenarios
  
  
• Insignia Blu-ray DVD player for e-learning
  
  
• Insignia digital cameras and hi-def digital cameras with a Dynex Tripod
  
  
• Rocketfish web cams allow for connectivity to other Magic Johnson Foundation Community Empowerment Centers across the United States

• Dynex cables that enable the connected computer learning center
  
  

What do you get when you combine the Magic Johnson Empowerment Center in Harlem, with Best Buy , Insignia and Geek Squad? – Pure Connected Magic!