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BEST SELLING PRODUCTS
System-Driven Leadership
Transforming Schools Through Systems-Driven Leadership and Immersive Learning
Urban School Transformation LLC partners with school leaders, districts, and educators to strengthen culture, align academic systems, and drive measurable student growth.
Our Mission
We engineer sustainable school transformation by aligning instructional rigor, leadership accountability, and trust-centered culture to accelerate achievement and strengthen communities.
Can You Survive Poverty? The Game
An interactive leadership simulation designed to deepen understanding of socioeconomic challenges, strengthen empathy, and align school culture with academic expectations. This signature experience equips educators and administrators to reflect on systemic barriers, enhance relational trust, and develop strategies that improve student engagement and outcomes.
Experience the Training That Changes How Educators See and Serve Students
CAN YOU SURVIVE POVERTY? The Game
A Sensitivity Experience for Educators
Can You Survive Poverty? The Game is an immersive, research-informed, interactive game designed specifically for educators, school leaders, social workers, counselors, and youth-serving professionals.
This is not a traditional game.
It is a guided professional development experience that simulates the real-world decision-making pressures families living in poverty face every day. Participants step into realistic financial, social, and emotional scenarios that mirror the lived experiences of many students and families in their schools and organizations.
Why This Experience Matters?
Across the country, educators serve students who:
Experience housing instability
Face food insecurity
Lack access to healthcare
Navigate transportation challenges
Care for siblings while parents work multiple jobs
Manage trauma tied to economic hardship
Yet many educators have never personally experienced these conditions.
Can You Survive Poverty? The Game bridges that gap through experiential learning.
What Makes This Game Different
Unlike lectures or PowerPoints, this experience:
Places educators directly into simulated poverty-based decision-making
Forces participants to prioritize between basic survival needs
Demonstrates how quickly a small setback becomes a crisis
Creates emotional awareness in a psychologically safe environment
Encourages reflection rather than blame
It moves participants from:
“Why don’t families just…?”
“I understand how hard this really is.”
Core Competencies
How the Experience Works
Limited monthly income
Realistic budget constraints that mirror actual poverty-level incomes
Unexpected life events
Crisis scenarios that disrupt carefully planned budgets
Essential costs
Rent, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare
Trade-off decisions
Making impossible choices under time pressure
Cumulative impact
How systemic barriers compound over time
Facilitated debrief
Guided discussions follow each simulation round
Facilitated debrief discussions follow each simulation round.
Professional Development Outcomes
- Develop deeper empathy for students and families who are in survival mode
- Understand the connection between poverty and behavioral responses
- Improve family engagement strategies
- Identify implicit bias in language and assumptions
- Increase trauma-informed instructional awareness
- Reflect on discipline, attendance, and communication policies
- Recognize how systemic barriers impact academic performance
- Strengthen culturally responsive practices
- Build more equitable classroom and school systems
Why It's So Effective
Formats Available
On-site facilitated professional development
Comprehensive training delivered at your institution
Leadership retreats
Intensive sessions for administrative teams
Conference breakout sessions
Engaging workshop format for conference attendees
District/Organizational training
System-wide implementation and training
Small group staff development
Intimate learning experiences for teams
University education programs
Pre-service teacher training integration
A Transformative Professional Development Experience
Can You Survive Poverty?
The Game creates a safe, structured environment where educators can confront assumptions, build empathy, and strengthen their commitment to serving every student with dignity and understanding.
This is more than a game.
It is a shift in perspective.
