LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A new Cox Innovation Lab is officially open in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday, Super Bowl champion and former New England Patriots player Malcolm Mitchell, Clark County Commissioner William McCurdy II, and officials from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The lab is at the Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club, which is located at 800 North Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Mitchell said it's important to have tools that promote education and help kids see what they want to be when they grow up.
"I realized the Internet is doing the same thing for individuals that I believe reading is doing. It's creating access. It's making the world within reach," Mitchell said. "I believe reading and exposure to the Internet creates that possibility. It gives you that hope. It allows you to dream beyond your immediate circumstances. I know my everyday challenge but if I can see beyond that, then I will believe there are no limitations."
Mitchell said when he was younger, he didn't understand the importance of having an education.
"You did not go out my front door and see doctors and lawyers or any of the professions you hear first graders raise their hand and blurt out when they're asked what they want to do when they grow up," Mitchell said. "In my community, they told you not to go outside because you had no idea of the dangers you're walking into."
He said when he was in college, he decided to become a better reader in order to build a better future for himself and his family.
McCurdy agreed saying the resources provided by the lab can help bridge the digital divide and create more equity.
"Never give up. Never give in. Never let nobody tell you what you can and cannot do," McCurdy said. "You set limits for yourself which should be done. There are no limits to what you can be."
Commissioner McCurdy said this is the 19th innovation lab to open in the Las Vegas valley.
