The EvolveMe platform, which was launched by American Student Assistance (ASA) last year, now has 50-plus partnerships in place and offers more than 120 tasks to help make high school students more future-ready for their next steps after graduation, according to an April 10 news release.
The tasks, which can also be called career experimentation activities, range from AI-powered career coaching modules to virtual internships or mentorships to coding courses, mock interviews and resume writing. Activities for completing tasks that follow digital instruction sessions include videos, quizzes, mini lessons and games. Teenage students are awarded points toward gift cards, according to the news release.
Clay Colarusso, ASA senior vice president of digital strategy, said the platform reaches students from all backgrounds, including those in underserved communities.
“As a result, we’re fostering a generation of confident, crisis-proof young people who are ready for whatever path comes next after high school,” Colarusso said in the release.
Several new partners offer tasks that incorporate virtual reality headsets, augmented reality interactive tools, and AI-enabled chatbots or search functions.
Another new partner, Lectec, supplements digital instruction with tangible parts and tools that students need to build an electronic vehicle and learn about motors, pulleys and batteries in the process. Get Schooled, meanwhile, helps students navigate paths to college or first jobs. SciStarter connects high schoolers with volunteer science project opportunities. And two of the added partners — SuperBetter and Emotional Theater — provide social-emotional learning modules.
All told, more than 15 million students have accessed ASA’s free digital tools via EvolveMe or the company’s Futurescape mobile app, a Future Network video-viewing platform and NextVoice, a youth advocacy platform, according to the news release.
Tallo, another new partner on the EvolveMe platform, is expected to provide a major boost to school guidance offices. The tool is currently connected with 200,000 entry-level jobs and internships (including positions at Fortune 500 companies), and $2 billion in higher education scholarships, according to Tallo CEO Allison Danielsen.
“Our research reveals just how critical it is for both employers and young adults to connect early on,” Danielsen said in a public statement, adding that free access to career and college financial aid information will help students across the country build a better life for themselves.
ASA, based in Boston, set up shop more than 60 years ago. In addition to providing free digital platforms, the nonprofit offers grants to nonprofit agencies that serve students, conducts research aimed at improving education, and lobbies state and federal leaders to create more post-graduation opportunities, both vocational and educational, for high school students, according to the organization’s website.
