THIS IS DECEPTIVE MARKETING AT BEST, A RIPOFF OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS AT WORST.
Avoid this company if you are a teacher or school administrator. They are charging $1,000’s to schools for what they claim are lesson plans that teach kids about alternative careers and “lifestyles”. But what they’re really teaching is that kids don’t need classes, don’t need college, and that they should drop out if they’re bored by “corny and cheesy activities” in school.
They claim their program can direct kids into careers such as “aerospace engineer”, “entertainment lawyer” or “marine biologist”, but the only accurate career most of these kids will end up in is as “dog trainer”. My school’s principal got suckered into buying the lesson plans, then forced it down the teachers’ throats.
I couldn’t believe the irresponsible garbage Find Your Grind is teaching kids, with zero grounding in facts or professional education research. It’s like a bunch of idiot dropouts got together and said “let’s come up with a way to teach other kids how to drop out of school and play video games.” Their slogan is “The Future Belongs To The Misfits,” but the only misfits I see are the dumb schools that pay for this garbage.
The other disturbing ripoff is that Find Your Grind acts like a front for corporations trying to worm their way into education, like Jostens and its billionaire private equity owner. If you go to their “shop” page, they try to sell kids $79 jackets and $50 high-top sneakers. Then if you go to their “events” page, it’s just a link to sell tickets to one of the Find Your Grind’s co-founder’s band appearances. The whole program reeks of bait and switch.
From what I can see on a boycott site, https://www.boycottfindyourgrind.com/, Find Your Grind also promotes an agenda of homophobia and anti-homeless policies, which is another way it sets a bad example for young people.
Even if you take away all the corporate influence and the recommendations to drop out of school, the lesson plans are just plain dumb. The 1st “Learning Objective” is: “The student will apply knowledge learned through self-assessment and self-reflection in life and career goals.” What the hell does that even mean?! There are so many things wrong with this ripoff I don’t even know where it begins and ends.
And oh, Find Your Grind claims to run a foundation, probably to trick educators into believing this is a non-profit. It’s not, and there probably isn’t even a foundation. The “Find Your Grind Foundation” webpage hasn’t been updated in 2 years, and mostly seems like an excuse for Nick Gross, whose inheritance makes all this possible, to post photos of himself handing out fake checks and mugging for the camera. All the links on the webpage are dead. Whatever money these guys make from teachers who don’t do their homework goes straight into the pockets of Find Your Grind.
Don’t get suckered by the Find Your Grind BS, and don’t spend precious tax dollars on Find Your Grind’s fake lesson plans. And if your administrators try to force Find Your Grind on teachers, call your union and tell Find Your Grind to take a hike.