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Ludacris and Chance the Rapper Visit Helps Alcott Students 'Get Schooled'

By Ariel Cheung | March 11, 2015 8:07am
 Ludacris and Chance the Rapper joined high school students at Alcott College Prep for the Get Schooled, Get Challeged kickoff Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
Ludacris and Chance The Rapper
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NORTH CENTER — For up-and-coming artists like Chance the Rapper, the Internet is a vital career lifeline.

"Things started to take off around my senior year [of high school]. I like to attribute it to the Internet — social media, Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud — all types of places of pushing ideas and information," Chance said Tuesday.

Basically, no Internet, no Chance the Rapper — which is why Chance and fellow rap artist Ludacris visited Alcott College Prep on Tuesday to launch the "Get Schooled, Get Connected" spring challenge.

"With great power comes great responsibility. And of course I wanted to lend my celebrity to a lot of positivity," Ludacris said. "I'm hoping [the students] take home the message that they have the power of infinite knowledge at their fingertips by using the Internet."

From Monday to May 22, Chicago Public Schools students can participate in quests and games to win prizes. The challenge aims to prepare high school students for college and learn about the application process and financial aid resources.

"This is a competitive world that we live in, so no matter what it is you want to do in life, you need to start studying right now," said Ludacris, whose new album release March 31 will precede the April 10 premiere of his movie "Furious 7." Chance, meanwhile, will head to the South by Southwest music festival later this month, but will return to Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival July 17-19.

Both artists have a strong connection to the Chicago area; Chance is from Chatham and graduated from Jones College Prep High School, while Champaign native Ludacris went to Oak Park and River Forest High School.

The "Get Schooled, Get Connected" initiative uses social media and celebrity endorsement to engage students (the free laptops, concert tickets and gaming systems don't hurt, either). On Tuesday, students were encouraged to post selfies on social media using the #GetConnected hashtag as part of the challenge kickoff.

A dozen Alcott students received free laptops and heard from City Clerk Susana Mendoza, Chicago's first lady Amy Rule and Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen.

In 2011, Comcast launched Internet Essentials, which provides affordable Internet service to students' homes, along with a computer and digital literacy training. Over the last three years, Internet Essentials has provided the resources to 50,000 low-income Chicago families.

"Comcast is doing a great job of bridging the digital divide in order to make sure our schools and libraries have access to quality, high-speed Internet," Mendoza said.

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