Academy of Geniuses

    Social entrepreneurship in action. "Academy of Geniuses" is a club where children learn modern technologies in a playful way. Social projects are always good, but, alas, not always profitable. Especially in Russia. Today we will tell you the amazing story of the Kaliningrad entrepreneur Yulia Taranova. In just two years, she managed to organize a network of circles in which children from 6 to 18 years old enthusiastically study robotics, programming and system administration. Julia’s special approach is so successful that she can skillfully balance between the benefits for many students and making a profit. And of course, Lenovo could not do without Lenovo. Although our computers in this story are just a small, but very practical addition.









    From accounting and automation to children's education


    Julia Taranova - the director of the Academy of Geniuses

    Julia Taranova has been in business for a long time. In 1996, she founded the company "DRV", which became first a franchisee, and then a distributor of 1C software.

    Julia regularly held free seminars for clients and competitions for students. One of them - "Professional contest on the use of" 1C: Accounting "- has become all-Russian: awards are now presented to its winners in the Kremlin. Julia’s company automated many large enterprises - Lukoil, Eldorado, Baucenter. Until now, they work on accounting systems "DRV". And after “DRV” - entered the largest federal network dealing with automation and accounting, Julia began to build another important business.

    Like any person engaged in business, Julia has repeatedly faced the problem of recruitment. She always lacked people who were able to think, well versed in information technology and ready to work. Most often, specialists had to grow from scratch.

    However, there is a problem. If professional skills can be taught at almost any age, diligence, pride in achieving results, interest in development, the desire to improve everything around you, honesty and decency can only be instilled in childhood. So the idea came up to create the “Academy of Geniuses”: a club for children of primary, secondary and senior school age, in which they could develop all the qualities listed above, while at the same time studying robotics, programming, system administration and other modern technologies.

    Club format and maintaining interest


    The "Academy of Geniuses" has two main areas. Children from 6 to 11 years old are invited to join the club of entertaining robotics “ROBIT”, and for older schoolchildren (from 11 to 18 years old) there is “1C: Club of Programmers”.



    Modular training. For example, a full robotics course consists of five modules, during which the guys work on the ROBIT robotics materials of the same name with the LegoWeDo designer, then with Lego Mindstorms, and after that the children go on to master the Arduino board based on the materials of “1C: Club of Programmers”. Programming courses include the development of Web-based applications and mobile applications for Android, as well as programming in Scratch, Java and 1C. Plus, there are separate modules dedicated to system administration, development management and preparation for the exam in computer science. In fact, it is a model of continuing additional education that develops a child from preschool to high school.

    The topics are complex, but Julia Taranova and her team managed to develop a unique approach, which is to generate interest among students. The meaning of classes is not just to follow a specific instruction on the template. The teacher helps children answer questions that are important to them: “how does it work?”, “Why is it necessary?”, “How will this help people?” “How can this be improved?”.

    Club format is very important. Children don't feel like they are sitting in a boring school class. The teachers here are friends and mentors, new knowledge is presented in a playful way, you can and should communicate with other students on an equal footing. As a result, the children open up, are not afraid to ask questions and together find solutions to any problems! And of course, everyone in the “Academy of Geniuses” team is sure that “Every Child is Brilliant,” and you just need to create the conditions for the disclosure of the talents of children, which is done by every employee of the company.





    Plus, of course, the very theme of gadgets and new technologies is interesting to every modern child by default. The “Academy of Geniuses” makes it possible not only to briefly study interesting directions, but rather to dive deep into the topic, create something new with your own hands.

    At the end of each module, students show what they have learned during this time: present and defend their own projects. It’s not accepted to demonstrate standard solutions at the “Academy of Geniuses”, the guys will necessarily add something to their basic project that they invented themselves. And parents are always present at the defense - their children are especially willing to talk about their successes at this age.

    Impressive Growth and Kids Developers


    The “Academy of Geniuses” opened last year, and it all began modestly: with 20 students. To date, the number of children involved has already exceeded 300. About a hundred of them are new students, and the remaining 200 are children who have already completed several modules.



    The conversion from module to module reaches an impressive 80-100%, and this is precisely what shows that with the maintenance of interest in the "Academy" everything is very cool. Each case when the child does not begin to engage further is carefully analyzed. The most common causes are a family moving to another region or illness.

    In addition to the main classes, the “Academy of Geniuses” has project shifts that are supported by a strategic partner of the Central Library System of the city of Kaliningrad. For example, this summer, children studied the development of the solar system, and then created a thematic game in Java. On a robotic shift in the fall, the guys made a robot-boxer, a smart home for special children and came up with the concept of small bio-robots that change diseased cells into healthy ones in the human body. And the authors of these projects are only six to ten years old!

    Older Academy students regularly participate in contests. For the Amber Sparks contest, they made the Parents Committee mobile application with a financial accounting system and alerts. There was also a smart refrigerator project, and this year the children are developing a social and communication network.

    For children with cerebral palsy, who are also successfully involved in the "Academy of Geniuses", an assistant robot was invented here. The machine fixes the parts so that it is easier to work with them naughty due to illness hands. This project took one of the prizes in the Skolkovo startup tour.

    Another interesting story is connected with the first in Russia beach with the “Blue Flag” in the village of Yantarny - this is how people mark water recreational facilities specially equipped for the disabled. By the order of the Meteostend company, the inclusive team of children from the Academy of Geniuses developed the entire software for the meteorological stand that is installed on this beach: it shows the date, time, as well as air and water temperature. In fact, it is a product ready for mass production that works 24/7 without problems in the open air. Moreover, according to the plan, money from sales of weather stands will be directed to the development of inclusive education in Russia.

    Reliable computers for hundreds of students


    The Academy of Geniuses does not yet have a separate building or some huge classroom. The idea of ​​training here also consists in organizing classes as close to children's homes as possible. Today, children can study at any of the 14 available points of choice in Kaliningrad, and soon they will probably be even more.



    The Academy also has a mobile class, consisting of six Lego sets and six Lenovo laptops. There is a router, a projector or a TV now on almost any site, so field classes can be organized almost anywhere in the city.

    The choice of Julia and her team fell on Lenovo G50-30 laptops with dual-core Celeron N3540 processors, 2 GB of RAM, AMD Radeon R5 graphics card, 250 GB on HDR and 15.6-inch screens. In 2015, the Academy of Geniuses purchased 32 such machines from the Kaliningrad network of SOHO stores in addition to the six already available.

    Julia Taranova:
    “We chose computers first of all for the price - at the time of the launch of the“ Academy of Geniuses ”there was very little money. The second decisive factor was the reliability of laptops, so first we took six cars and watched how they cope with the load. It turned out that excellent. Today we have almost 400 students and 50-60 regular groups, and for a year with such a cycle, not a single laptop let us down. ”

    Social project as a successful business


    The “Academy of Geniuses” is a social project, but, at the same time, it is also a business. Julia Taranova succeeds in successfully combining an interesting idea and practical benefits for society with income.

    On average, the cost of one module out of 12 classes at the Academy is 6-8 thousand rubles. Business profitability along with depreciation of equipment is 26 percent. All funds received are immediately invested in development, which allows you to grow by 300% per year. It turns out that even a social project can be made profitable, but of course there is no talk of any super-profits and space incomes. The goal is to grow a generation of professionals who own information technology and are in demand in any field of activity and require serious investments.

    Already, Julia is engaged in the sale of franchises. The first franchisee has recently successfully launched its club on the technology of the “Academy of Geniuses” in Smolensk, and they also use inexpensive and reliable Lenovo laptops in their work.



    At first glance it seems that here it is, an ideal teaching system, completely ready for integration into the school curriculum. Julia Taranova says that she would really like this, but not so simple. The founder of the "Academy of Geniuses" even tried to open a club in one of the schools, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Children treated additional classes as optional and regularly missed them. Unfortunately, modern schools cannot provide an open club format. Nevertheless, Julia is ready to work with the education system: to provide materials on entertaining ROBIT robotics, to train teachers, so that even high-quality, proven domestic modern tools are used in the school teaching format, but, of course, there must be a counter movement from the education system itself.

    State support and future plans


    Julia admits that at first she did not really believe that state support for such social projects as hers did exist. However, in 2015, the Academy of Geniuses successfully received a subsidy from the Ministry of Industry and the Entrepreneurship Support Fund. Thus, it was possible to offset 80% of its costs. In 2016, we managed to get another subsidy, which went to buy additional Lego sets and computers.

    Future plans are even more interesting. Firstly, Julia really wants to participate in the creation of the Center for Youth Innovative Creativity in Kaliningrad. This is a great opportunity to teach children how to use new equipment: machines, scanners and 3D printers.

    Secondly, after receiving the subsidy, the Academy of Geniuses bought an old German school located near Kaliningrad with a large adjoining territory. Now you need to find money for repairs, and over time, this place should turn into a rehabilitation, training and engineering center for all children from 6 to 18 years old, including those with disabilities. The idea is that the children themselves or together with their parents come here for the weekend or for a week, do interesting projects and learn something new, away from the bustle of the city.

    We hope that these plans will certainly be implemented, and we will tell you about the new achievements of Julia Taranova and her mega-cool team "Academy of Geniuses" on the pages of Geektimes. Thanks for attention!


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