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Pharrell, Roddy Ricch, and Jimmy Iovine Kicked Off Super Bowl Weekend To Rally to New Heights with adidas

Education has had a hard time evolving to meet the academic needs of the modern student; remember how hectic it was to make a zoom class work? The way kids are learning is either antiquated, stifled, focused more on standardized testing and the programs meant to engage their creative sides are either limited or non-existent As Los Angeles welcomed the world for Super Bowl LVI, adidas, hosted Rally to New Heights for the students of Audubon Middle School. Along with the Iovine and Young Academy and PENSOLE, the rally celebrated the continued partnership between these institutions, adidas the graduates of Wood U and furthered the commitment to the community disrupting education in the 21st century. When Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young -you may know him as Dr. Dre- founded the Iovine and Young Academy in 2013 their goal was simple: give young creatives the tools they needed to become the future of their dream careers. "What we want to do is come to a town like this in a public school and give them a unique education." he says and the partnership furthers those goals by bringing dream teams and collaborators to the classroom. PENSOLE founder Dr. D’Wayne Edwards expressed the importance of bringing the industry to the classroom and starting them early on the path to success. For the Inglewood CA native, the continuing partnership means that students can embrace creativity and possibility. "Creating a curriculum that is around cross functional learning revolutionizes education." adidas Senior Director – Communities & Social Impact Ayesha Martin adds that "maybe 1% of kids manage to become a pro athlete but you can still love sports and still be a part of this industry." Under the tutelage of fellow Inglewood native D Smoke, the students of Wood U designed footwear and apparel taking design cues from the words longevity, ambition, power and love with pieces being sold in select stores in LA. The process allowed students to get their hands into everything from design, fabrication, textiles, marketing and get a larger sense of what goes into the process of creating a product, adding a little more to the assignment than just a sketch and a dream. This is more than a community project. It's a blueprint for what the future of academics can be across the country, something everyone involved can agree on. From learning design to financial literacy - courtesy of Pharrell's Black Ambition project- the students in these courses are accomplishing more than just straight A's and winning games, they're proving that impossible is nothing. Complex’ Pierce Simpson headed back to the classroom for a full school day with Jimmy, NFL wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pharrell, Cheney and Nneka Ogwumike and special guest performer Roddy Ricch to talk about the program. Check out the highlights above and be sure to check out https://www.adidas.com/us/wood_u for more.