We are blessed to bless others and the only legacy that any successful person can leave behind is not the vast estates or shares in blue-chip companies,it is not in exotic cars,boats or yacht.It is in how many lives the person was able to touch with his/her wealth while on earth.The founder of Facebook is following the right path and I also pray that God will raise more helpers for the destitute,the poor and under privileged among us.
In December, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook FB +1.42% shares over their lifetimes via the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with the goal of making the world a better place. On Wednesday the couple made a move toward their first major investment: education. In a post
on Facebook and a video on Facebook Live, Zuckerberg and Chan announced
that they have hired James Shelton, former deputy secretary at the U.S.
Department of Education, to lead the
initiative’s education efforts.
Zuckerberg and Chan aim to provide students in the U.S. and around the world with personalized learning and reach out to lower income communities.
Shelton said the couple’s work can help kids learn 100 times as much as they do now. Citing inspiration from his 4th grade teacher, he added: “There is nothing you can’t achieve with time, attention, and effort”. Shelton, who grew up in Washington, D.C., said he knew
many peers who worked as much as he did and were smarter, but did not
have access to the same education as he did. “Where you live is very
determinant of how well you will do in school,” he said.
Zuckerberg admitted Wednesday to having a hard time with languages as a student, especially with Mandarin, and Chan said her worst subject has always been music. (Zuckerberg joked about how his side of the family has perfect pitch, and Chan is not allowed to sing to their newborn daughter, Max.)
“Our children’s lives should be much better than our lives,” Zuckerberg said.
Both Chan and Zuckerberg believe in the potential of each individual,
and for a better future, they want to unleash that potential.
A pediatrician, Chan said she has
always been inspired by teachers and knows how teachers can succeed
when they recognize their students’ barriers. “Health, well-being and
development of a child” all factor into a kid’s performance, Chan pointed out. In class, some children get left behind and some are not challenged enough. One goal of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is to personalize teaching, turning the classroom into a more of a one-on-one tutoring experience between student and teacher.
Shelton most recently worked as president of an education technology company, and has worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as a partner at the NewSchools Venture Fund.
Chan and Zuckerberg have been interested in education for a while. The couple has already backed
another project called Education Super Highway, which brings broadband
to schools for kids to experiment with what the internet has to offer.
They have also donated to “Code.org,” a policy initiative that
underscores how important parents are and invites them to demand
computer science to be a part of regular school curriculum.
Credit:Fortune
We are blessed to bless others
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