Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley has added another Cox Innovation Lab for the youth – this time at the Peoria Jerry & Helen Wisotksy Branch.
Leadership from BGCAZ and Cox Communications recently helped club kids cut the ribbon on the new computer lab.
The lab, accelerated during the pandemic to ensure that youth in distance learning would have access to the technology they need, includes 20 new computers, two media production computers, virtual reality technology, a 3D printer, a laser printer and a cutter, and STEAM tables and stools. There is also specialty lighting, paint and artwork to make the lab an engaging destination for youth between the ages of 5 and 12.
“This new Cox Innovation Lab really speaks to kids,” Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley CEO Marcia Mintz, stated in a news release. “It’s filled with the technology they need to do schoolwork and the laser cutters, 3D printers and media production computers to explore their creative interests. Our Peoria members will have hours of fun in this lab.”
Cox has an ambitious 34-by-34 goal that gives the company an opportunity to take action in the communities where its employees live and work. In partnership with national and local nonprofits like the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley, Cox will deliver help and support where it’s needed most. The Cox Innovation Labs are part of Cox’s plan to help 34 million people live more prosperous lives and provide opportunities for children who have little to no access to the Internet by 2034.
“Cox labs give thousands of kids daily access to leading-edge technology in their Club,” Susan Anable, Cox Southwest Region Vice President of Public Affairs, stated in the release. “These students are digital natives who need time and space to explore virtual reality, digital programming, and other tech not available in their classrooms and homes, that will prepare them for careers of the future.”
Cox Communications enjoys a longtime partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley. Both entities are dedicated to serving youth in their communities and supporting their academic success. Together, the organizations are creating equity for students by bridging the divide between Valley youth and teens with no access to technology to a technologically advanced world with the resources and experiences they need to succeed in a digital world.
