Meet Kevin Thompson of Entitled Learning

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Thompson.

Hi Kevin, I’m so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Entitled Learning as a concept began back in 2019 when Brooke Thompson, my older sister, came to me with several parents looking for tutor sessions for their students over the summer. With limited resources that summer, we hosted 20 students in the basement of our church for 7 weeks with her curriculum. At the end of that summer, through pre- and post-assessment testing, we saw math scores rise by nearly 30% and reading scores by 60%. Fast forward to 2024, we are averaging 50+ students each summer during our continued 7-week programming and impacting 400+ students each year with our curriculum in the Kansas City and Atlanta metropolitan areas. At the heart of Entitled Learning, we are a curriculum organization that delivers innovative career exposure to students aged 7-13. The curriculum framework is our authentic imprint on our community. It takes a village to raise a child. Through community partnership, Entitled Learning will connect resources to scholars. Professionals in numerous industries will engage in hands-on, project-based activities to explore different career paths. Entitled Learning’s goal is to create community role models. This will develop mentorship opportunities and connect career readiness to future goals. Students will engage with community leaders in articulating projects they have worked on and networking. Entitled Learning strives to build confidence in our scholars. Connecting the community leaders to the students’ educational journey builds buy-in to the community.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It takes work to start a business, especially within the education space. One thing my sister and I learned early within the non-profit space was funding, marketing our story, and connecting our goal of connecting more professionals of color with students. These same challenges, however, have helped shape the core of Entitled Learning. Our relationships with our current funders are strong because of our transparency in our work. Marketing our story is still challenging, but enrollment numbers grow by 10% or more every summer. Finally, our connection with the public/private community has been difficult due to the availability of a lot of our professionals within our community, but we have found numerous times our professionals go above and beyond to give our students an experience like no other.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Entitled Learning?
As I stated earlier, our top priority is creating an authentic curriculum. At the beginning of summer, our students interview within 3 career fields: Real Estate, Journalism/Marketing, and Cultural Arts. Through the next 7 weeks, learn from different professionals and teachers through hands-on activities, field trips, and projects about that career path, cumulating in a Showcase to the community at the end of the summer. In the past, we have had some amazing partners from Ruby Jeans who explained to our students the history behind the redevelopment of Troost Ave, which bridges the gap between history and real estate. Another significant achievement was the collaboration with the State Department and the Peace Corps of South Africa. Ambassador Thomas Greenfield and other foreign affairs professionals joined forces with Entitled Learning’s curriculum team, exposing our students to foreign affairs vocabulary and global challenges. These unique experiences are what our students need, and they need to hear from the people that look like them.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
When starting any business, you are taking a risk, especially within the non-profit sector when most funds are grant-based. Your reputation is often the most significant risk. None of these risks are more important than the risk of a student feeling loved, supported, and challenged to continue to grow. In our line of business, risk is the confidence our students have in themselves to dream more significant than the generation before them. That risk is always worth taking.

Pricing:

• Summer Enrollment: $500
• Includes: Field Trips, Breakfast and Lunch, $100 student incentive, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.entitledlearning.com/
• Instagram: Entitled Learning
• Facebook: Entitled Learning
• Linkedin: Entitled Learning