FROM STEAM TO SOCCER

LEWIS Scholarship Sends Local Student to Spain
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We are delighted to share exciting news regarding our annual summer tradition of community partnership. Following successful collaborations with organizations such as 100 Black Men of Dekalb, the Georgia Christian Network, and the ORTHO Project, LEWIS has once again partnered with strategic organizations to positively impact our shared community. This summer, we have teamed up with the Los Angeles-based Soccer IQ Institute and Atlanta's own HBI Ventures for another impactful community project.

Thanks to generous funding from Microsoft's Justice Reform initiative and The PATH, LEWIS's Deputy Director, Dr. Brandon Mines, along with Soccer IQ's co-founder, Ms. Bridgette Robinson, and HBI Ventures' CEO, Mr. Corey Harris, MBA, developed a summer STEAM/athletics curriculum. This program enabled one of Soccer IQ's most talented students to attend an immersive two-week soccer program in Spain.

We are thrilled to announce that Mr. Micaiah Idio was selected as this year's recipient of LEWIS's "Getting In Good Trouble Summer Scholarship." Micaiah's exceptional performance in both academics and athletics truly made him stand out among his peers. Ms. Robinson brought Micaiah to the attention of LEWIS's Executive Director (and The PATH's director emeritus), Dr. Güez Salinas, who also collaborates with Mr. Harris on the polymathy component of Soccer IQ's academic curriculum.

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Dr. Salinas noted, "I immediately saw a synergy between our interdisciplinary problem-solving goals at the center of our research here at LEWIS, and what Soccer IQ and HBI Ventures are doing in the STEAM space for student-athletes. Having worked with Ms. Robinson and Mr. Harris in the past, I knew we could create the meaningful, holistic experience a young student like Micaiah deserves. Micaiah had already participated in his school's STEAM capstone project with HBI Ventures, and bringing the health sciences into his polymathic toolkit seemed like a logical next step."

Ms. Robinson states, "We are incredibly proud and honored to collaborate with outstanding organizations like LEWIS, Ortho Project, and HBI Ventures to discover and support talented student-athletes like Micaiah. He exemplifies what it means to be a competitive student-athlete. With his remarkable abilities in the sciences and technology, combined with his passion for soccer, Micaiah has rightfully earned the title of our top student-athlete this year. His extraordinary opportunity to travel to Spain and play soccer—fully sponsored through this exceptional partnership—highlights our commitment to fostering talent, and we are deeply grateful for it."

Mr. Harris adds, "Together, our organizations are aligned in focus: advancing innovation, promoting education, and expanding opportunity for student-athletes. This shared mission ensures that participants are not only equipped to excel on the field but are also prepared to lead in technology-driven industries and make a meaningful impact off the field."

Empowering the Next Generation
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Dr. Mines, LEWIS' Deputy Director, shared, "We are setting up future leaders in our community who will make holistic decisions with all the resources available to them. Micaiah is a shining example of how brightly a student can shine when given the opportunity to engage in places where they normally wouldn't see mentors and educators they connect with."