Help Jason Give Back to Khan Academy

2m read

·Nov 10, 2024

My name is Jason Spiers, and at the age of 19, I made a stupid decision to sell cannabis and ended up in prison. Fortunately, my mother sent me Khan Academy transcripts to start improving my education, and while I was doing that, other inmates noticed and would come up to me and ask if I could help them.

When I asked them why they didn't try to get in the GED classes, some said the waiting list was too long. Others, I realized, it is hard to admit you don't know something, and it's embarrassing when you're a full-grown man to say that you don't know that there's three different ways to spell the word "there." So, I'd help them.

When I got out, I used Khan Academy's SAT program to prepare myself and ended up getting a 1440 on the SATs. After that, I applied and was accepted into Stanford University.

I'm making this video today because I want to tell you, when you support Khan Academy, you're not only supporting people like me and helping me get to places like Stanford; you're supporting a mission that strips away the embarrassment factor of having to admit you don't know something because you want to learn something.

The best teacher can only help the student if they'll walk into the classroom, and what Khan Academy does is they put a classroom in everybody's home, on their time, on their schedule, without any embarrassment.

So, I hope you will continue to support Khan Academy's mission and hope to continue to support the mission of increasing a world-class education for everybody, everywhere.

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Help Jason Give Back to Khan Academy

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