Harris City Academy Crystal Palace students supported by will.i.am to learn robotics
Musician, tech entrepreneur and philanthropist will.i.am has made a generous donation to Harris City Academy Crystal Palace so that its students can study robotics.
Will.i.am visited the school for his thought-provoking documentary ‘The Black Print’ on ITV which explored what it means to be black and British today. He was impressed with the ambitious teaching, inclusive curriculum and ethos of success at the academy, describing it as “a place of black excellence”. He pledged to support the academy through his non-profit foundation, i.am. Angel.
The foundation already supports thousands of children in the US to progress in robotics and STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths). Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is the first UK school he has supported and students will benefit by having access to an exciting robotics programme run by First Robotics.
One of the students who met will.i.am is former Year 13 student Zac Denucci Diarrassouba. Zac is an exceptional mathematician who has overcome significant challenges. He has recently started his degree in Computer Science at St. John’s College, Cambridge, after winning their highly acclaimed ‘Davies-Jackson Scholarship’ and hopes to begin a career in software development. Another of the academy’s talented computer scientists, Hamza Quereshi, has also just started his degree at the University of Oxford.
The academy hopes to see even more of its students go onto embark in careers within the fields of engineering, robotics and computer science in the years to come.
Katherine Cumberbatch, Principal of Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, said:
“We were absolutely delighted to host will.i.am and our students really enjoyed meeting him. His generous support was unexpected, but we are over the moon that we’ll soon be able to offer our students experience in robotics.
“He is an inspirational individual who clearly wants the best for young people, particularly those who come from underprivileged backgrounds. We very much hope to see him back at the academy again to see the impact this programme is having."
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