Adobe x HE3AT Program brings Students to Adobe NYC

Creation is the ultimate expression of learning. When students are empowered to create, they become more engaged, intentional, and successful in learnings and are more able to grasp concepts and subjects.

NYC Public Schools purchased Adobe Creative Cloud for all students, teachers and staff so that everyone, no matter their age, what school they attend, or department they work in, now have equitable access to creative tools. In partnership with the Adobe Education team, the schools are getting the support they need to deploy and implement these tools through a three-pronged approach:

• Community
• City-wide event support
• District initiatives

This partnership and support extends to 45 NYC Public School districts throughout the 5 boroughs. The HE3AT Program, an initiative from Brooklyn South and led by Superintendent Michael Prayer, is one of those initiatives.

The HE3AT difference

HE3AT's core mission is to offer students the opportunity to increase intergenerational economic mobility and participate through a six-year course of study including sustained place-based learning and work-based experiences. Leveraging corporate social responsibility, sustained partnerships with industry leaders provide students with authentic learning that combines academics with in-demand professional skills.

Commencing in 6th grade, HE3AT students explore the role of technology within the fields of healthcare, energy, education, environment, and agriculture. Under the guidance of industry professionals and NYC PS teachers, students engage with principles of design thinking, applied entrepreneurship and ethical business management in addressing pressing issues that lack rules-based solutions with a lens of empathy, equity, social justice, and sustainability.

Curriculum is intentionally designed to connect work and place-based experiences with academic and project management skills to better prepare students for careers, occupations, and credentials of their interest. Students’ experience culminates in extensive research and a development of a relevant, industry-specific proposal, prototype design, or business plan along with an oral defense to a panel on their research process, method, and findings.

Participating HE3AT teachers also have a unique opportunity to upscale their pedagogical skill sets as they collaborate with teachers, district staff and industry professionals on designing and implementing curriculum that braids project management, metacognitive, and generative AI skills with academics.

The HE3AT creative programming will support highly diverse student bodies, including English learners, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.

Providing workshops and learning events

Adobe recently held a ‘Day of Creativity’’ with NYC Public Schools and Adobe, hosted by Laurie Strauss, which gathered NYC Public Schools leaders from across the five boroughs with an extended Adobe team to share ideas on how to infuse creativity into their districts, all for the goal of enhancing student success.

As a part of our partnership with HE3AT, Adobe will host a cohort of high school students for a full day each month at our Adobe Times Square Office. These workshops will explore and answer questions students often grapple with around creativity identity, elevating diversity and inclusion with creativity, and utilizing creative tools and thinking for social impact or a non-profit cause.

Our shared goal is to help students creatively communicate a challenge in the technology sector and propose an ethical solution, utilizing Adobe tools to inform, impact, and inspire others.

Our commitment to greater access to the arts

In addition to our partnership with HE3AT, we recently announced our collaboration with the MoMA in New York and through the Adobe Foundation’s funding and support, MoMA will work to triple its school and youth programming with New York City Public Schools, increasing annual capacity from 15,000 to 50,000 students, and will ensure more students have access to the arts and creativity education through integrated school curriculums.