Urban Ed has implemented a fresh new approach in response to the chronic truancy issues among youth from throughout the city. We work within both middle schools and high schools. For middle schools, we started out as part of the Stand Up Stand Out (SUSO) district-wide truancy initiative from the D.C. Justice Grants Administration. The initiative was designed to help parents get their children to school everyday and eliminate any barriers. Urban Ed’s approach to supporting the reduction of truancy is to engage youth in a variety of technology-based activities. Youth are intrigued by the power of “techie” stuff which gives Urban Ed an excellent opportunity to capture their interest and inspire them to get involved. Through their initial involvement with us, our approach is to use technology as the tool to stimulate them to learn, encourage them to come to school and support their academic recovery through technology. We are implementing Tech Clubs within middle schools throughout DC where youth learn coding, game and app development, web design, basic computer repair, digital music and a variety of other STEM-related topics. NOTE: this program has been on pause given the ongoing health risks imposed by the pandemic.