{"category":{"id":7,"count":8,"description":"","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/category/media-and-press/","name":"Media and Press","slug":"media-and-press","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/taxonomies/category"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?categories=7"},{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?categories=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},"posts":[{"id":87,"date":"2020-05-08T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=87"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"news-advance-colonial-systems-founder-running-for-appomattox-town-council-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/05/08/news-advance-colonial-systems-founder-running-for-appomattox-town-council-seat/","title":{"rendered":"News &#038; Advance: Colonial Systems founder running for Appomattox Town Council Seat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/colonial-systems-founder-running-for-appomattox-town-council-seat/article_2d5c2c3c-80c4-5069-9f0c-f90673e705b7.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://newsadvance.com/news/local/colonial-systems-founder-running-for-appomattox-town-council-seat/article_2d5c2c3c-80c4-5069-9f0c-f90673e705b7.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the Full Article on NewsAdvance.com</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nathan Simpson, founder of Colonial Systems LLC, an Appomattox-based company providing digital media services to the public and commercial sector, is seeking a two-year term on Appomattox Town Council.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson, 19, is an Appomattox native who said he wants to help the community succeed using the skills he has learned while building a business in the private sector.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson said the first platform he is running on is infrastructure — ensuring the town has the ability to support economic development opportunities. Chief among these efforts are improvements to the town’s water and sewer infrastructure and the pursuit of broadband expansion.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he wants to bring in more internet providers and negotiate on behalf of business owners. It’s essential, Simpson said, to have an active approach to marketing and identifying businesses in the community looking to grow and relocate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>With strong water and sewer infrastructure, fiber internet, cheap land and low taxes, he said Appomattox would be well-positioned to encourage new business.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simpson said council needs to find a way to take advantage of a push for American manufacturing, helping to pull jobs back into the community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson currently sits on the county Economic Development Authority, regularly attends town council meetings and has rebuilt two websites for the town. While doing so, he worked out of the historic train depot, and said he gained a unique insight into Appomattox’s inner workings.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His father, Donald Simpson, is the current Appomattox County Sheriff.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to county registrar Sabrina Smith, Simpson has filed all of his paperwork and qualified for candidacy. All six town council seats are on the ballot in the May 19 election.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Honosky covers Appomattox and Campbell counties at The News &amp; Advance. Reach her at (434) 385-5556.</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the Full Article on NewsAdvance.com Nathan Simpson, founder of Colonial Systems LLC, an Appomattox-based company providing digital media services to the public and commercial sector, is seeking a two-year term on Appomattox Town Council. Simpson, 19, is an Appomattox native who said he wants to help the community succeed using the skills he has &#8230; <a title=\"News &#038; Advance: Colonial Systems founder running for Appomattox Town Council Seat\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/05/08/news-advance-colonial-systems-founder-running-for-appomattox-town-council-seat/\" aria-label=\"Read more about News &#038; Advance: Colonial Systems founder running for Appomattox Town Council Seat\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/87/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":84,"date":"2020-02-14T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=84"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"wfxr-local-teen-awarded-multi-million-dollar-contract-with-marines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/02/14/wfxr-local-teen-awarded-multi-million-dollar-contract-with-marines/","title":{"rendered":"WFXR: Local teen awarded multi-million dollar contract with Marines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/local-teen-awarded-multi-million-dollar-contract-with-marines/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/local-teen-awarded-multi-million-dollar-contract-with-marines/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full article on WFXRTV.com</a></p>\n\n\n\n<iframe scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; 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(WFXR) —</strong> Nathan Simpson got his first government contract two years ago at the age of 17.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“That’s one of those moments I’ll never forget,” he said. “It wasn’t for a lot of money, but it was just the proof of concept that we could do it.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The now 19-year-old has made bidding on contracts a career.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“That led me into exploring the creative side of federal contracts, which most people think that doesn’t exist.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His latest contract is for five years of work and $2.1 million.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“When you break it down it sounds a little bit less insane, because it’s $2 million over five years, so it’s not like it’s $2 million in my pocket right now.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His ten-person team, which is spread out all across the country and Canada, will be producing recruitment videos for the Marines.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His skill in bidding for contracts came from developing the website for the town of Appomattox and learning what government buyers are looking for.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“That can be kind of difficult, because the solicitation packages are this thick, and they’re 80, 90,100 pages for a project that might only be 20 grand.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His mentor and producer Jon Long says there’s value in young people like Nathan making their voices heard.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“He’s just an amazing person for, an example of that,” said Long, “and we’re seeing that a lot in the world these days, of younger generation is stepping up and really showing why their voices need to be in the conversation.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nathan has no plans to go to college. Originally, his father was worried about his teenage son’s work trips across the country.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“You’re going to get pitches thrown at you,” said Donald Simpson, “you’re going to swing, and you’re going to miss. You’re going to miss a lot. But every once in a while you’re going to hit it, and I think he’s definitely hit some home runs.”</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the full article on WFXRTV.com APPOMATTOX, Va. (WFXR) — Nathan Simpson got his first government contract two years ago at the age of 17. “That’s one of those moments I’ll never forget,” he said. “It wasn’t for a lot of money, but it was just the proof of concept that we could do it.” The &#8230; <a title=\"WFXR: Local teen awarded multi-million dollar contract with Marines\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/02/14/wfxr-local-teen-awarded-multi-million-dollar-contract-with-marines/\" aria-label=\"Read more about WFXR: Local teen awarded multi-million dollar contract with Marines\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/84/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":82,"date":"2020-02-05T15:28:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=82"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"times-virginian-business-owned-by-19-year-old-awarded-2-1-million-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/02/05/times-virginian-business-owned-by-19-year-old-awarded-2-1-million-contract/","title":{"rendered":"Times Virginian: Business owned by 19-year-old awarded $2.1 million contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://www.timesvirginian.com/news/article_9ff75f2a-4873-11ea-b45a-bf029498a280.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.timesvirginian.com/news/article_9ff75f2a-4873-11ea-b45a-bf029498a280.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full article on TimesVirginian.com </a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nathan Simpson, an Appomattox native and the young entrepreneur behind Colonial Systems LLC, was excited to share that his company was awarded a $2.1 million, five-year contract with the United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A little over a week ago, Simpson received word that his company had been awarded the five-year contract to continue providing videography and photography services for MARSOC advertisements.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>These ads will land in movie theater advertising spots.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There’s more to this story in the current issue of the Times Virginian newspaper. Pick up a copy or subscribe at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http://www.timesvirginian.com/subscriber_services\" target=\"_blank\">www.timesvirginian.com/subscriber_services</a> to view the full article in the e-edition version.<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesvirginian.com%2Fnews%2Farticle_9ff75f2a-4873-11ea-b45a-bf029498a280.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share\" target=\"_blank\"></a></p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the full article on TimesVirginian.com Nathan Simpson, an Appomattox native and the young entrepreneur behind Colonial Systems LLC, was excited to share that his company was awarded a $2.1 million, five-year contract with the United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC). A little over a week ago, Simpson received word that his company &#8230; <a title=\"Times Virginian: Business owned by 19-year-old awarded $2.1 million contract\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2020/02/05/times-virginian-business-owned-by-19-year-old-awarded-2-1-million-contract/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Times Virginian: Business owned by 19-year-old awarded $2.1 million contract\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/82/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":92,"date":"2019-02-19T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T20:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=92"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"sbdc-colonial-systems-brings-a-cinematic-eye-to-government-branding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2019/02/19/sbdc-colonial-systems-brings-a-cinematic-eye-to-government-branding/","title":{"rendered":"SBDC: Colonial Systems brings a cinematic eye to government branding."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://www.virginiasbdc.org/colonial-systems/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.virginiasbdc.org/colonial-systems/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read on VirginiaSBDC.org</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Colonial Systems employs 14+ people on a contract basis, with 2 full-time employees. It holds the largest single federal contract by dollar value in Appomattox County.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>A desire for storytelling can hit at a young age; think Steven Spielberg.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>While in high school in 2016, Nathan Simpson worked with the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which gave him $1500 to start his own company. It was then that Nathan got involved with the SBDC – Lynchburg Region.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still in high school, he started his next company, Colonial Systems, in 2017. Nathan’s dream was to bring a new vision to clients using fresh video, social media, and all aspects of digital marketing. He knew the SBDC would play a key role in this venture, but his story does not follow the typical path.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;“I’ve always had a passion for storytelling and felt that multimedia design was a great outlet for that,” Nathan says. “Fortunately, my business partners and I discovered an underserved market in federal agencies.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nathan and his partners got to work drafting proposals and creating demonstrations of their services for government organizations. They managed to catch the attention of the National Park Service and the Department of Defense.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though thrilled with these early triumphs, Nathan was shrewd enough to know that Colonial Systems would need support and careful preparation to ensure enduring success. “I knew we’d need the oversight of the SBDC. They helped us establish relationships with the Procurement Technical Assistance Center and introduced us to people who’ve supported us in taking this business to the next level.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nathan and Colonial Systems now lead the charge in taking modern digital marketing to the government sector and telling stories in new, engaging ways. When it comes to Nathan’s story though, he is the first to acknowledge the SBDC’s critical role.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“Especially in terms of getting into government work, Stephanie Keener at the Lynchburg office was great,” Nathan says. “She helped get me up to speed on government contracting. The SBDC was outstanding in preparing me for the work Colonial Systems now does.”</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read on VirginiaSBDC.org Colonial Systems employs 14+ people on a contract basis, with 2 full-time employees. It holds the largest single federal contract by dollar value in Appomattox County. A desire for storytelling can hit at a young age; think Steven Spielberg. While in high school in 2016, Nathan Simpson worked with the Young Entrepreneurs &#8230; <a title=\"SBDC: Colonial Systems brings a cinematic eye to government branding.\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2019/02/19/sbdc-colonial-systems-brings-a-cinematic-eye-to-government-branding/\" aria-label=\"Read more about SBDC: Colonial Systems brings a cinematic eye to government branding.\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/92/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":104,"date":"2018-10-31T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T19:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=104"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"politico-inequality-persists-as-costs-increase-at-public-colleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2018/10/31/politico-inequality-persists-as-costs-increase-at-public-colleges/","title":{"rendered":"Politico: Inequality persists as costs increase at public colleges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2018/10/31/inequality-persists-as-costs-increase-at-public-colleges-395281\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2018/10/31/inequality-persists-as-costs-increase-at-public-colleges-395281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full article on Politico.com </a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>With help from Benjamin Wermund</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor’s Note: This edition of Free Morning Education is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Education subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click&nbsp;<a href=\"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here</a>.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&nbsp;<strong>NEQUALITY PERSISTS AS COSTS INCREASE AT PUBLIC COLLEGES:&nbsp;</strong>New research out today paints a grim picture of public higher education as costs continue to climb and economic inequality endures at many four-year universities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>More than half of the nation’s public four-year colleges expect the neediest freshmen to pay more than a third of their families’ yearly earnings</strong>, according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/undermining-pell-iv/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the latest installment of New America’s “Undermining Pell” series</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>— T&nbsp;<strong>he report found a big increase in the share of public universities charging low-income students more than $10,000&nbsp;</strong>on average in 2015-16&nbsp;<strong>.&nbsp;</strong>The first installment of the New America series, which was released in 2013 and based on data from 2010-11, found that about a third of public universities expected students from families making less than $30,000 to pay at least $10,000. Now it’s 52 percent.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>“For years, public universities and state colleges complemented the government’s efforts by providing a low-cost education to students in their home states,”</strong>&nbsp;the report says. “In so doing, these schools offered students from low-income and moderate-income families a gateway to the middle class. But those days are fading away.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Too many public universities are still “worshipping at the altar of U.S. News,”&nbsp;</strong>the closely watched college rankings that&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/top-college-rankings-list-2017-us-news-investigation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have long rewarded exclusivity</a>&nbsp;over inclusivity, said Stephen Burd, the author of the report. U.S. News and World Report&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/10/us-news-college-rankings-formula-813559\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced earlier this year</a>&nbsp;it’s changing the formula for its rankings to try to reverse the trend. The changes are aimed at rewarding schools that enroll and graduate more students from low-income families.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Also out today:&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.ihep.org/equitysnapshots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New research from the Institute of Higher Education Policy</a>&nbsp;highlights persistent inequality at six flagship universities</strong>&nbsp;in the Great Lakes region. The research includes snapshots of enrollment and completion trends at Indiana University – Bloomington, Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, and University of Wisconsin – Madison.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Low-income students account for just 15 percent of the University of Michigan’s student body, for instance,</strong>&nbsp;although they make up 38 percent of students at all of Michigan’s colleges. Just 11 percent of the university’s freshmen are underrepresented minorities, even though 21 percent of the state’s high school graduates are minorities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— The Michigan snapshot dings the school for not offering enough need-based aid</strong>, and for admissions policies that benefit legacy students and those who have “demonstrated interest” by doing such things as visiting campus — something many low-income students can’t afford to do. It applauds the school for not offering early decision, which research shows greatly benefits affluent students who are almost twice as likely as low-income students to apply that way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— Flashback:</strong>&nbsp;POLITICO last year explored Michigan’s struggle to reach low-income students after years of acting like an elite private school, despite its public mission. “It’s ingrained at an early age — ‘You’re not going to go there,’” Benjamin Edmondson, the superintendent of one school district in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan — where almost every student qualifies for a subsidized lunch — said at the time. “Why? It’s expensive. Why? It’s not attainable.”&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/09/university-of-michigan-admissions-low-income-244420\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Revisit it here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>—</strong>&nbsp;<strong>“These deep inequalities are built into our system of higher education and they overflow into society at large,” said Mamie Voight</strong>, vice president of policy research at IHEP. While many of the schools IHEP examined have enrolled more minority students, they haven’t kept pace with demographic changes and racial gaps are actually growing at some universities.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HAPPY HALLOWEEN. THIS IS MORNING EDUCATION.</strong>&nbsp;Send tips, clips and feedback to&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:mleonor@politico.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mleonor@politico.com</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https://twitter.com/melleonor_?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@MelLeonor_</a>. Send events to:&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:educalendar@politicopro.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">educalendar@politicopro.com</a>. And follow us on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://twitter.com/Morning_Edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@Morning_Edu</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https://twitter.com/POLITICOPro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@POLITICOPro</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Election Day is almost here.</strong>&nbsp;Have you made your POLITICO Playbook Election Challenge picks yet? Don’t miss your chance to compete against the nation’s top political minds in the POLITICO Playbook Election Challenge by correctly picking the winning candidates in some of the most competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the country&nbsp;<strong>.</strong>&nbsp;Win awesome prizes and eternal bragging rights. The contest closes at 6 a.m. on Nov. 6. Sign up today. Visit&nbsp;<a href=\"http://politico.com/playbookelectionchallenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">politico.com/playbookelectionchallenge</a>&nbsp;to play.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BIPARTISAN ENDORSEMENTS FROM SCAN IN VERMONT:&nbsp;</strong>Save the Children Action Network, a group that advocates for the expansion of high-quality early education, is endorsing Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s bid for reelection. SCAN cited Scott’s plan to direct revenue from the state’s new online sales tax to boost child care subsidies for low-income families.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— At the same time, SCAN endorsed Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, a Democrat,</strong>&nbsp;for fighting “tirelessly for more child care funding in the legislature.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— SCAN plans to air a 60-second radio ad supporting Scott</strong>. The group also is sending direct mail to voters in Johnson’s district advocating for her reelection. All in all, the group is planning to spend $40,000 in races in Vermont.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AFT AIRS SPANISH AD IN FL-27:&nbsp;</strong>The American Federation of Teachers launched a Spanish-language&nbsp;<a href=\"https://youtu.be/32bVdbZzRgk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">television ad</a>&nbsp;opposing Maria Elvira Salazar, a former Spanish-language broadcast journalist and the Republican candidate for Florida’s 27th Congressional District running against Democrat Donna Shalala. AFT wouldn’t say how much it’s spending on the ad, beyond that it’s a “six-figure” buy.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— “Maria Elvira Salazar is cut from the same cloth as Donald Trump&nbsp;</strong>— they are both television stars out of touch with reality,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said. “Donna has dedicated her life to health care, education, and the well-being of people, not enriching the already-rich. That’s why Florida educators proudly support Donna Shalala.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CHAN ZUCKERBERG INVESTS IN ‘WHOLE CHILD’ APPROACHES</strong>: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged $3.3 million to four organizations focusing on helping students develop critical life skills.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— The largest award went to GripTape,</strong>&nbsp;a project of education nonprofit America Achieves, which offers high school students grants of up to $500 to pursue their own learning projects. Students can apply for the money to attend conferences, to rent or purchase art or technology equipment and to travel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— “Because we operate outside of formal learning environments&nbsp;</strong>and at the boundary of what people perceive possible, we have the opportunity to pilot transformative ideas and approaches directly with ― and led by ― youth,” said Nathan Simpson, a member of GripTape’s youth board.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— A second grant of $685,000&nbsp;</strong>will go to Roses in Concrete Community School, a charter school in East Oakland, Calif., to&nbsp;train teachers on trauma-informed practices to respond more effectively to the toxic stress, poverty and violence among their students.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— CZI also pledged $750,000 to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning,&nbsp;</strong>which is working to formalize social and emotional learning from preschool through high school. A $700,000 grant will go toward Peer Health Exchange, a group that partners with high schools to supplement or offer health education.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ICYMI — MARYLAND PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN:</strong>&nbsp;University of Maryland President Wallace Loh announced Tuesday that he will retire next year amid the fallout from the June death of 19-year-old university football player Jordan McNair.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— An independent report on McNair’s death</strong>&nbsp;concluded the school’s leadership bears some responsibility for the dysfunction of the athletics department, Loh noted in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https://president.umd.edu/communications/statements/commission-report-and-path-forward\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter</a>&nbsp;explaining his decision.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— “I accept that responsibility,”&nbsp;</strong>Loh wrote, adding, “we must work to create a healthier culture that advances the well-being of our student-athletes.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>—&nbsp;<strong>But the University System of Maryland Board of Regents recommended that two key figures — football coach DJ Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans — keep their jobs.</strong>&nbsp;“This was despite the investigation concluding that Evans and Loh bear responsibility for the abuse that permeated the football team under Durkin, who has been on administrative leave since August,” according to the&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.dbknews.com/2018/10/30/maryland-football-investigation-dj-durkin-damon-evans-wallace-loh-board-of-regents-report/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Diamondback</a>&nbsp;student newspaper.&nbsp;<a href=\"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/education/article/2018/10/maryland-president-to-step-down-following-death-of-football-player-903920\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">More from Pro’s Kimberly Hefling</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>— Loh’s decision to step down follows the high-profile departures&nbsp;</strong>of other university leaders within the last year, including University of North Carolina President Margaret Spellings, Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and University of Southern California President C. L. Max Nikias.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>— The Center for American Progress is out with a&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2018/10/31/460128/understanding-infant-toddler-child-care-deserts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report</a>&nbsp;highlighting the need for high-quality child care options for infants and toddlers, who are often left without slots even in cities where a majority of 3- and 4-year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality program. “While there has been an increased recognition of the importance of preschool and subsequent investment, the same support and investment for infant and toddler care have lagged,” the report reads.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>— EdChoice, the school choice advocacy group, released a&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.edchoice.org/research/surveying-florida-scholarship-families/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey</a>&nbsp;this week of families participating in Florida’s tax-credit scholarship. When asked about the reasons for choosing their child’s school through the program, a majority of parents selected religious instruction and environment, and morals, character and values instruction. Lower down were factors like a safe environment, the school’s academic reputation and small class sizes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>— Ohio State shutters higher education policy center:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.thelantern.com/2018/10/ohio-state-closes-higher-education-policy-center/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Lantern.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>— UMass to maintain protections for transgender individuals, regardless of the outcome of a statewide referendum on transgender protections:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampshire-county/regardless-of-vote-umass-to-maintain-protections-for-transgender-individuals/1561590569\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WWLP.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>— Juul offered schools $20,000 to roll out vaping curriculum that encouraged “mindfulness” as an alternative to e-cigarettes:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/leticiamiranda/juul-offered-schools-as-much-as-20000-to-teach-a-curriculum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buzzfeed.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>— GOP candidate in Minnesota attorney general race sued school districts over transgender policies:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.the74million.org/article/october-education-surprise-new-frontrunner-in-mn-attorney-general-race-is-lawyer-who-sued-schools-over-transgender-bathrooms/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The 74.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>— Carranza: NYC will hire 100 new coordinators to serve homeless students:&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2018/10/29/carranza-new-york-city-will-hire-100-new-coordinators-to-serve-record-number-of-homeless-students/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chalkbeat.</a></p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the full article on Politico.com With help from Benjamin Wermund Editor’s Note: This edition of Free Morning Education is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Education subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, &#8230; <a title=\"Politico: Inequality persists as costs increase at public colleges\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2018/10/31/politico-inequality-persists-as-costs-increase-at-public-colleges/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Politico: Inequality persists as costs increase at public colleges\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/104/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":96,"date":"2018-04-01T15:38:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T19:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=96"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"skillsusa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2018/04/01/skillsusa/","title":{"rendered":"SkillsUSA: Success Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https://www.skillsusa.org/bio/nathan-simpson/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.skillsusa.org/bio/nathan-simpson/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read on SkillsUSA.org</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brimming with ideas, Nathan Simpson isn’t going to let a little thing like youth stand in his way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The high school senior, 17, recently was awarded a federal contract for videography services, possibly making him the youngest Department of Defense contractor on record.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only that, Simpson is helping other students his age make their dreams a reality. He serves on the leadership board of GripTape, a nonprofit that provides 15- to 19-year-olds with $500 microgrants to pursue whatever they’re passionate about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“We’ve had some students, they wanted to start their own photography company,” he says. “We had another girl, she started a fashion line and had a fashion show. It’s really anything the student wants to do.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>GripTape helps ensure students from disadvantaged schools or households have a “rich learning environment.” It’s backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael Bloomberg and the Carnegie Institute.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson, who will enter James Madison University this fall, began his professional career doing freelance web design for his high school. He was only 15 years old. A year later, he was hired by his hometown of Appomatox, Va., to rebuild its tourism website and eventually all of its web properties.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In SkillsUSA, his four-student team from Appomatox High School has won the national Entrepreneurship competition for two years in a row.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson first competed in 2016. After his team took home the gold that June, one of the judges, Pat Scannell of Makersmith, “went above and beyond after the competition,” the student says. “He followed up with us, sent out an email, and he told me, ‘Let me make some introductions to some guys for you, because this business that you presented has legs.’ ”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That led to the team hoofing it up to Washington, D.C., the following December. “We weren’t soliciting for an investment,” Simpson says. “We were just pitching for advice at that point.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The students made their presentation “to a man — I’m not going to say the name, but he’s worth nearly half a billion dollars, and he co-founded a very well-known Internet company,” Simpson remembers. “He asked, ‘How much money do you need to start this company?’ We said, ‘12 thousand dollars,’ and he laughed. He said, ‘That is not worth my time. Come back and ask for 50.’ ”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team never got the startup funds, “but the opportunity that we had was insane,” the student adds, “to be able to pitch to that level of people, you know. And that guy was worth more than some of the people on ‘Shark Tank.’ So, just getting that experience was amazing.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, Simpson laid the groundwork for another gold-medal Entrepreneurship team. But with new duties as a SkillsUSA state officer, however, he wasn’t eligible to compete alongside his group at nationals.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was reelected this school year but is still working with his team in hope of bringing home a third gold. The team will pitch a new business to help public water utilities connect with customers through automated text and digital voice messages.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘So many different avenues’</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The same group has won a $3,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Education to advance education in “gamified learning,” Simpson says, “using video games to help students gain confidence in different areas.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>His passion is in education. Working with another advocacy nonprofit, Pioneer Lab, the student says he’s helping others “take charge of what they want to learn.”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simpson remembers being in 10th grade when his computer systems technology instructor, Jason Clark, “came up to me and said, ‘Nathan, you owe me 17 bucks.’ And I said, ‘Why do I owe you 17 bucks?’ He said, ‘I just signed you up for the best thing that’s ever going to happen to you.’ ”</p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was SkillsUSA. “I would not be the person I am today without it,” Simpson says. While he’s competed in other events for young entrepreneurs, “the access to successful people has allowed me to shift my mindset. It’s just the ability to connect with people.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“I’ve always been blessed with opportunities, and I’ve always worked hard to make the most of them, but this opportunity was different, because there’s so many different avenues. You can grow from it as a high school student, as a college student. You can grow from it as an industry professional. It’s a multitude of ways.”</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read on SkillsUSA.org Brimming with ideas, Nathan Simpson isn’t going to let a little thing like youth stand in his way. The high school senior, 17, recently was awarded a federal contract for videography services, possibly making him the youngest Department of Defense contractor on record. Not only that, Simpson is helping other students his &#8230; <a title=\"SkillsUSA: Success Stories\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2018/04/01/skillsusa/\" aria-label=\"Read more about SkillsUSA: Success Stories\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/96/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":90,"date":"2016-07-01T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=90"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"lynchburg-living-person-of-interest-nathan-simpson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2016/07/01/lynchburg-living-person-of-interest-nathan-simpson/","title":{"rendered":"Lynchburg Living: Person of Interest &#8211; Nathan Simpson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Occupation: Rising Junior at Appomattox High School and this year’s top winner at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) competition.<br>Resides: Appomattox, Va.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell us about the business you entered into the YEA! competition.<br>True Dimension Education is the Netflix for high school course selection. Within a school district, we will collect student data and predict which courses a particular student will be successful in. Our software does this by utilizing a machine-learning algorithm similar to what Netflix uses to predict movies.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Were you surprised they granted you the most money, $1,500?<br>I was definitely surprised! I had no idea that they saw so much value in my company. I’m very grateful for the investor panel and more specifically, Stefanie Prokity, a very established education technology entrepreneur.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where did you get the idea and inspiration to create True Dimension?<br>When I began the YEA! Program, I knew I wanted to help K-12 education. Each year, about 1.3 million students drop out of high school in the United States. That’s one student every 20 seconds.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How did you become involved in computer programming/software creation?<br>I began building websites when I was in seventh grade. My computer marketing teacher introduced me to HTML. Since then,<br>I have developed about 40 freelance projects for my clients. Software has been a fairly new addition to my interests. I wish I would have started learning about software much earlier!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you always have a knack for technology?<br>Not necessarily technology, but I have always been curious. Curious in how things work, interact and help society.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What’s next for True Dimension?<br>True Dimension is currently seeking our seed funding round. We have raised around $15,000 from grants and investors. We will need some additional funds to fully build the software. We are also filing for a provisional patent to protect our software. Since the company was founded in November, our team has grown to include five co-founders. The team consists of four high school students and one long-time region 2000 educator, Jason Clark.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you look ahead to your future, what are your goals and aspirations?<br>I hope to become a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. K-12 education is my passion, and I hope to significantly lower the dropout rates within the public school system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What’s something most people don’t know about you?<br>I absolutely love Latino pop music. I frequently listen to Don Omar’s Danza Kuduro when working on True Dimension. We are part of a co-working office environment, which I named ‘KuduroX,’ combining my favorite song and favorite start-up accelerator, GoogleX.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What are some of your favorite things to do with your friends and family?<br>Nick Mendoza, a True Dimension co-founder, and I frequently go into the city and capture some pretty unique shots. Photography is our side business, and we love the unique combination of Lynchburg, which allows both cityscape and nature photography.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Name the top spot you like to visit in the area.<br>I love downtown Lynchburg. Most of the meetings involving True Dimension’s software development take place in a historic Lynchburg building, currently the home of Sharp Top software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it sounds like you would one day like to start up your business in Lynchburg?<br>Of course! True Dimension plans to move into the city once we deploy the software.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does the phrase “Lynchburg Living” mean to you?<br>Lynchburg Living is the spirit of the Lynchburg community. It has been a pleasure to work with the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and many of the other businesses within the area.</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Occupation: Rising Junior at Appomattox High School and this year’s top winner at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) competition.Resides: Appomattox, Va. Tell us about the business you entered into the YEA! competition.True Dimension Education is the Netflix for high school course selection. Within a school district, we will collect student data and predict which courses &#8230; <a title=\"Lynchburg Living: Person of Interest &#8211; Nathan Simpson\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2016/07/01/lynchburg-living-person-of-interest-nathan-simpson/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Lynchburg Living: Person of Interest &#8211; Nathan Simpson\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/90/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":94,"date":"2016-06-30T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T19:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://cms-nasimpson.goingblu.com/?p=94"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:06:58","slug":"abc13-teacher-student-duo-develops-software-to-match-student-and-teacher-compatibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2016/06/30/abc13-teacher-student-duo-develops-software-to-match-student-and-teacher-compatibility/","title":{"rendered":"ABC13: Teacher-student duo develops software to match student and teacher compatibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>APPOMATTOX Co., Va. (WSET) &#8211; A student-teacher duo in Appomattox believes that compatibility could make a difference in high school dropout rates. So much so, they developed a software idea around it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coach Jason Clark coaches football and teaches computer technology at Appomattox High School. Together with Nathan Simpson, a 15-year-old student, they developed an award winning software idea.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;True Dimension Education, it&#8217;s like the match.com for high school courses selection,&#8221; said Nathan. &#8220;So we can take a student&#8217;s past academic history and their learning style and put them in the best possible courses for the best engagement.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The software matches students with teachers who have compatible learning and teaching styles. It&#8217;s based on an algorithm that compiles student data, and they hope the result will lead to a reduction in dropout rates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;So very similar to match.com instead of finding dates it finds you teachers,&#8221; said Nathan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a plan that&#8217;s worked so well for these two; they&#8217;ve won national recognition from an entrepreneurial group, grant money, and interest from several school systems.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The validation of other proven business leaders is just surreal,&#8221; said Nathan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m gonna make a prediction,&#8221; said Coach Clark. &#8220;He&#8217;ll make his first $500,000 before the age of 25. And by the time he&#8217;s 30, I&#8217;ll be asking him for a job.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to winning a national contest out of 6,000 entries Nathan&#8217;s idea has the attention of a local software investment company called <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http://www.sharptop.co/\" target=\"_blank\">Sharptop Software</a>.</p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>APPOMATTOX Co., Va. (WSET) &#8211; A student-teacher duo in Appomattox believes that compatibility could make a difference in high school dropout rates. So much so, they developed a software idea around it. Coach Jason Clark coaches football and teaches computer technology at Appomattox High School. Together with Nathan Simpson, a 15-year-old student, they developed an &#8230; <a title=\"ABC13: Teacher-student duo develops software to match student and teacher compatibility\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https://cms.nasimpson.com/2016/06/30/abc13-teacher-student-duo-develops-software-to-match-student-and-teacher-compatibility/\" aria-label=\"Read more about ABC13: Teacher-student duo develops software to match student and teacher compatibility\">Read more</a></p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-and-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/94/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://cms.nasimpson.com/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]}