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After running an education studio in Inglewood for seven years, Jenna Galloway is well-versed in children’s wellness practices. Through conversations with hundreds of teachers, parents and individuals who work with children through that studio, Galloway realized there wasn’t a consistent approach to early childhood mental health and development. So she created a tool that could reach all students in an accessible and affordable way: Fledge, a first-of-its-kind online learning tool for children in kindergarten to grade six.
Fledge takes a holistic approach to learning, bridging the gap between children’s academic success and mental well-being in an engaging, “game-ified” way. Users build virtual worlds and earn rewards by completing activities that focus on emotional regulation, stress and anxiety, focus and attention, and social interaction.
Through the Accelerator and Incubator programs with Platform Calgary, Galloway, founder and CEO of Fledge, navigated the tech ecosystem to build the project from the ground up. An advisory board made up of industry experts and educators ensures that Fledge is research-based, and Galloway seeks feedback from psychologists, teachers and parents alike. “It’s a collaborative project,” she explains. “We want to create something of value to the community.”
That value is evident, with feedback from parents and teachers stating that kids are asking to participate in Fledge activities and implementing their learnings within a classroom and home setting. In the age of technology, Galloway explains that Fledge is a copilot in a child’s learning and development.
“Through tech, we aim to take away the burden of finding research-backed and evidence-based resources and activities, so that parents and educators can authentically spend time connecting with students and children,” says Galloway. “We’re not advocating for more screen time, but rather for tech that’s used positively and enriches the lives of users so that they’re able to live a better life in the real world.”