I don't know if you are facing a problem similar to the one I am attempting to confront. For many months, the central problem I have been attempting to address is that the organization I work for is underdeveloped. When I started at CUWiN, there was no Board of Directors, no real decision-making process, and no structures for accountability. We didn't even have an accurate accounting of our own books.

Since September, I have been working to address these problems with varying levels of success. While I won't go into the details of how CUWiN has gone about its organizational development here, I will note that it has been a process fraught with peril. Part of this is because I am completely willing to be confrontational, which some people simply can't handle (especially if they have ego-maniacal tendencies). However, the biggest part of the problem has been my foolish attempt to reinvent the wheel. I have been approaching organizational development as if one can get things together simply by reasoned argument. I still believe strongly in reason, but I am now aware of two things which are reasons to change my tactics: a) many, many people are unreasonable, especially when their relationships to other people are at stake; and b) there is a vast literature available from really smart people about how to develop an organization.

Given these new facts, I am altering my approach to addressing the challenges that I am confronting in my day-to-day work. I am embarking on a journey to educate myself about how to develop organizations and to organize that knowledge in my blogging. I am also inviting anyone who is interested in joining me. I believe that there are many people who are probably facing similar organizational challenges who will benefit from this work.

And yes, I'm calling it work because it is work.It is, in many ways, the most essential work that I can do at this time. To me, the stakes are the development or death of the organization. I don't believe the organization can survive the stagnation that has persisted for more than a year. I also believe that the organization has a lot to offer the community in which I live and the world at large.

My Strategy

I am starting with the following website: http://foundationcenter.org/. Having glanced through it, I have found many of the thoughts to be quite useful. I am going to the library this afternoon to locate some of the resources that are there. I will report the resource I find on the wiki, but I will comment on those resources in this blog. In this way, I hope to begin a resource center for VISTAs who are face similar challenges.

If you wish to engage this journey, you can do so in many ways beyond simply reading this blog. If you want to help review materials, I certainly welcome that. If there are things that you are already reading/reviewing/using, let me know and I will search for other materials, that way we can maximize our coverage. If you want to help review materials but have no idea how to get started, please let me know and I will point you to materials that need to be covered. Finally, if you don't really want to get involved but you have references or ideas, please share them with me. I'm hungry for new sources of information.

Comment from danielle martin on May 12, 2007 - 1:24pm

Hey Ross,

Kevin Palmer, the current VISTA at HOME Inc and future VISTA Leader at UMB, had done a lot of research this year on organizational development and strategic planning.

We had a great consultant last year, Jillaine Smith, who does TANP stuff but also does a lot of organizational development stuff as well. Her blog is http://jillaine.blogspot.com/ but I'm sure if you emailed her, she'd send you lots of info.

I also know that Lauren B. at Media Bridges in OH is asking similar questions about strategic planning.

And maybe you could put what info you gather on the CTC VISTA Wiki?

-Danielle

Comment from danielle martin on May 14, 2007 - 10:42am

I also found this org in my travels: Interaction Institute for Social Change - looks like a good list of resources.

-D

Current Projects:

Project: Develop Strategic Plan for HOME, Inc.

Drivers: AJ McGuire, Alan Michel

Result: A strategic foundation that includes well-defined programming, meta-structuring of how all HOME, Inc. related programs converge, detailing of company roles, an updated organizational mission, etc.

Date of Completion: May 2007

Project: Develop HOME, Inc. Organizational Handbook

Drivers: AJ McGuire, Alan Michel

Result: A series of documents that describe in detail What, Who and When of everything HOME, Inc. does.A matrix of what items need to be accomplished throughout the year, who needs to accomplish each of those items and when each of those items needs to be completed.

Date of Completion: June 2007

Project: Communications Hub for Pilot High School Design Team

Drivers: School Design Team Leaders, Committee Members

Result: Site that allows easy communications between Design Team members while also allowing transparency in Design Team decisions

Date of Completion: August 2007

Project: Develop HOME, Inc. Web Portal

Drivers: AJ McGuire

Result: Website that leverages Web 2.0 capabilities for use with school programs, internal communications and teacher training

Date of Completion: May 2007

Project: Build High School Radio Station

Drivers: Students, School Media Teacher

Result: Low Frequency High School radio station that transmits in a several mile radius across Jamaica Plain/Roxbury/Hyde Park. Student run, produced and broadcast.

Date of Completion: June 2007/Fall 2007

Project: Build High School Web Portal

Drivers: School Teachers, Admins, Students

Result: High School web site that leverages Web 2.0 capabilities to allow students to keep a goals journal, maintain a school media repository and enable greater communications between students, staff and parents

Date of Completion: June 2007

Continuous Programs:

Program: Mosaic In-School and Afterschool Program (Media Production)

Drivers: AJ McGuire

Result: End of the year presentation of all student produced work from December 2006-May 2007 at Social Justice Academy.

Date of Completion: End of Service

Program: ETV In-School and Afterschool Program (Media Production)

Drivers: School media teacher

Result: A closed-circuit television program that is written, directed and produced by High School students, airing once every week and a half at English High School.

Date of Completion: On-Going

As part of the website redesign, we're adding new sections for user generated content.  We needed to keep this content separate from the rest of the site, so that any user could edit the user sections, but not the rest of the site.  For basic content types, this is simply a matter of defining a new content type based on the standard drupal "node", and then assigning the correct permissions to that new type.  But what if you want to do something similar to a more advanced content-type such as a book?  One could extend the book module to support a similar derived content feature (best solution).  But that can take a fair amount of time, and with no guarantee of changes being accepted upstream, you face the possibility of either running outdated module code, or having to reapply your edits for every update.  A quicker, and much simpler method, especially for those with little programming experience, is to make a few, essentially cosmetic changes to the book module.  These changes consist primarily of changed the names of the tables the module stores its data in, and the internal name that drupal uses to identify the module and its components.  And while your modifying, you can easily alter the human-readable names and descriptions.  And its all as easy as Find & Replace.  

The Easy Way: 

One should make a backup copy of the books module.  I would suggest creating a new directory, name it after the short, drupal id form of the content type, and place the files from the book module in this directory.  Renaming them would be a good idea too.  Then do the following in all of those files.

One could easily do a "Replace all" on "book" and "Book" with the words/identifiers you desire.  Caveats:  the word replacing book cannot have spaces, and should not have other odd characters; not starting with a number would be advisable as well.  A short word or acronym or other identifier would be preferred here.  The reason for this is that in some places "book" is being used as an identifier by Drupal, and so we must make sure that what we use will not cause the PHP or SQL to break.  In our case, we replaced it with "cnrc", since this new book will be used to provide books and book pages for the Community Networking Resource Center area of the new website.  "Book" is used only in description and such, and is not used internally by Drupal.  As such, we can replace it with whatever we want.  Just be careful of including quotation marks, either single or double, as they could be misinterpreted by PHP.  In our case we replaced it with the expanded acronym.  The plural of "book" and "Book" are sometimes used as well.  The process described above will replace the appropriate portions of these words, thus leaving the replacements with an "s" suffix.  If this is undesirable, use either a "match only whole word" feature, or replace the plural forms first.

Whats Really Going On:

 The .info file included with module contains the data that is displayed in the "Modules" section of the admin screens.  Its not important to change it, but doing so will make your life (or however assumes job of maintaining the site's life) a lot easier.   The fields here can contain pretty much any value.

The .install file contains the code responsible for installing and uninstalling the module.  Its what makes the correct tables in the database, for instance.  To truly keep the data from the various "book" modules separate, we need to make our module use a different table.  The requires editing the sql queries encapsulated in the PHP.  I also suggest renaming the function as well.  Not only does it improve clarity, it prevents naming collisions.  Drupal, at least as far as I've seen, runs in one big namespace.  Hence, all modules must provide unique function names.  The convention is to prefix the functions with the modules short (internal drupal) name.

 The .module file contains all the internal workings of the module.  The same thing about function names applies here as in the .install file.  the *_node_info function contains the base parameters (drupal name,verbose name, and description).  The variables whose values are wrapped in t(' ') will accept Unicode characters.  the "module" variable will not.  In here the paths and such are defined as well.  The find & replace method will modify these as well, thus allowing one to customize the url locations.

Motivation and Alternatives:

The redesign of the site presented us with a case wherein we might have books that only staff should be able to edit, and other books that should be open to the general public.  With the current book module, that is not possible.  I suspect one may be able to achieve similar functionality with the CCk for Drupal 5, however, I haven't had time to explore it yet.  Given my programming background, I found modifying the module much simpler than learning the quirks of a Drupal interface. 

Comment from Matthew Isaacs on May 9, 2007 - 12:19pm

I found a module this morning that looks like it will provide this missing access control functionality to the book content type. See http://drupal.org/project/bookexpand for more info. It just came out today, however.

The digital divide issue is currently characterized by two distinct trains of thought: the digital binary group who choose to characterize the issue as there being a rift between the technological haves and have nots, and the digital inequity group who choose to characterize the issue as an uneven diffusion of participation, use, and skill in computers and the internet. The digital binary group believes that the gap between the ICT haves and have nots exists or has existed in the past, and bridging the gap is necessary to minimize the disadvantages of the unconnected. The digital inequity group acknowledges that not having adequate access to technology can harm your ultimate life chances, however they believe that merely owning technological gadgets alone will not address the greater problem of social inequity.

            The digital binary group was the first to respond to the issue. Formed when the internet was just becoming popularized, the digital binary group, armed with census data, aimed to demonstrate the uneven distribution of the information superhighway among Americans. They focus on ownership and access to technology as it relates to different classes in society, and they have demonstrated how some groups in America are under-equipped with computers and internet access. As the numbers of individuals who own computers grows every year, prices of computers fall, and product quality improves, progress towards bridging the digital divide is thought to be made. Some in the digital binary group believe the gap has been closed due to market forces making it much cheaper to own higher quality gadgets and high-speed connections. Others believe the gap persists as minorities, the poor, and the disabled remain unconnected at lower rates than the more advantaged white majority.

            The digital inequity group is the new comer to the issue. Although still concerned about ownership and access to the internet and computers, the digital inequity group sees beyond mere ownership of gadgets. They feel that technology is embedded in pre-existing social structures and systems, and that failing to participate in technology is akin to removing yourself from the benefits these social constructs provide. The digital equity group places a high value on social inclusion as they believe ICT allows citizens to completely participate in society, have adequate levels of control over their own lives, and maximizes the economic, health, educational, and cultural benefits available to them through the internet. Finally, the digital inequity group believes that the digital binary group oversimplifies the issue as they fail to take into account differences in levels of participation, computer skills, and purpose of use in their analysis of ICT distribution, and that they, either intentionally or unintentionally, demean those unconnected to ICT by claiming they are doomed to a life of labor-intensive, low-pay work if they do not pay into the almighty church of technology consumption.

            With these two groups in mind, the digital divide issue becomes complex, contentious, and debatable. Both camps have had their redeeming factors and usefulness for their respective eras in internet history; however, as more and more people in the United States log on to the World Wide Web, the digital binary group loses some of its connection to reality and helpfulness to the disadvantaged.

            To begin with, computer ownership and access to the web are only superficial indicators of social benefits. Owning a computer with internet access does not mean that person will use it to empower themselves, participate in the community, or improve their lives. Access, whether it is access to a computer, the web, or computer literacy, can not ensure that individuals, especially disadvantaged individuals, will derive any benefit from ICT. Computer ownership may mean that those owners have more and better internet experiences from the privacy of their own home; however, it is not an absolute indication of computer skills and purpose of use.

            Secondly, assuming that the technological have nots are destined for doom without an internet connection and computer at home is inaccurate and demeaning. Plenty of people choose to not connect to the internet and have rich, fulfilling lives. Warren Buffett, perhaps the world’s greatest investor and philanthropist, does not have a computer in his home nor does he carry a cell phone. Technology may carry significant social, economic, and political advantages, but it does not determine success, happiness, or fulfillment. By applying pressure to have the disadvantaged sign up for the internet and purchase computers, the digital binary group imposes a set of values on a plural, differentiated group, thereby proselytizing and coercing them to comply with a hegemonic dictum of information and communication privileging.  Technology improves lives, but only when people are given the option. The digital inequity group asks that everyone should have a fair chance to access ICT without demeaning those who choose not to access it.        

            Third, the digital binary group suffers from a lack of information. Indeed, the only reason the digital binary group characterized the digital divide as a divide between the digital haves and have nots in the first place is due to a lack of data. Census data during the 1990s, especially the early 1990s, did not offer information on how much individuals used their computers, what they used them for, how they had bettered themselves through technology, etc. Recent studies have demonstrated that mere ownership of technology is inadequate when addressing ICT diffusion. Therefore, it has become clear that increasing computer and internet penetration rates should not be the only action taken to solve the problem, and that a mixed bag of solutions should take the fore when focusing on improving technological diffusion.

            The digital inequity group believes that social inclusion, computer skills, and purpose of use take precedence over mere ownership of technological gadgets. They believe that greater social inclusion leads to empowerment and belonging; better computer skills lead to greater employability and social involvement; and well-directed purpose of use leads to life-improvements and quality of life gains. They believe that full technological diffusion will be achieved when all members of society master the general maneuverability of ICT, not when all members of society own a device. When turning on a computer, searching for content on the web, and fully utilizing software programs become skills that everyone can perform is when we can speak of a truly closed digital divide.

Comment from cheryl jerozal on May 8, 2007 - 8:41am

interesting post.

it is easy for warren buffett not to use a computer because he already made his name in a time when not using a computer was normal. i would imagine that for people starting out today, those that don't use computers will have a harder time of things simply because so many others do use computers and that is what is expected. i'm not saying this is how it should be but how i think it is. do you have any evidence (even anecdotal) to refute or confirm this perception?

Comment from Kevin Bulger on May 8, 2007 - 7:05pm

Making money in business or running a successful non-profit is determined by the organization's capacity for innovation (see Drucker, Peter). Right now, there has been so much innovation in the digital technology world that computers seems to be synonymous with innovation and invention. But there are plenty of other ways to be innovative that doesnt include digital technology.

As for quality of life and digital technology, I believe self-fulfillment is determined by the individual and not their gadgets. I believe the internet can and does empower folks, but the individual has to first want to be empowered. If folks want a better life, its up to them to decide what that better life looks like and if its worth striving for. I dont see how digital technology plays a part in that process other than helping folks achieve their goals once they've been set.

For me, the biggest problem with the under-served or the disadvantaged is that they dont have goals, they have little sense of self-worth, they are fragile, and they are incompetent. Technology isnt going to help them. If anything, its just going to add to the long list of things they arent good at. These folks need training, rehabilitation, and community involvement. All of which can be made better by technology, but its a very very very very very very fine line that everyone everywhere seems to miss. Its not the technology that should be emphasized, but the health and human services and the social programming.

 

 

 

Comment from brittney fosbrook on May 9, 2007 - 5:51pm

I disagree with the idea that technology does little to help folks achieve their goals. And personally, I find some of the statements in your last reply offensive. You say that the "under-served or the disadvantaged...dont have goals...have little sense of self-worth... are fragile, and...are incompetent." If VISTAs are carrying around these outrageous and stereotypical ideas about low-income folks, what are we really achieving as VISTAS anyway? I work with many so called 'incompetent, goal-less' low-income and/or homeless families at the Homeless Prenatal that use technology to find jobs to support their families, look for public housing, research their pregnancies and build and advertise for their own businesses.

Most of these families have many goals and desires and the HPP acts as a tool for many families to achieve these goals. Additionally, our technology center helps people (that have been told so often they were not good enough, smart enough, determined enough) learn how to use these tools as access points for many social services. We try to help our clients realize their enormous capacity through technology education. Our classes aim to not only teach technology, but to use technology as a self-sufficiency builder to help people accomplish their goals.

 

Comment from Kevin Bulger on May 9, 2007 - 10:25pm

Im sorry if I offended you or anybody, but I still think it is true that the underprivileged suffer from low self-esteem and related problems. Im not going to sugar coat it, and I dont believe Im being stereotypical because I live in a poor neighborhood and I see it. Poor folks dont feel good about themselves.

The CTCs that Ive worked with do a good job. But, Id like to see more types of services integrated with them. Things like substance abuse prevention, parenting classes, and invigorating after-school programs. I dont think a CTC is going to succeed if it assumes its users are all hunky-dory, well-adjusted folks. They have to know their community and be able to objectively address their community issues.

Im not saying that poor folks are bad people, but a lot are troubled and in need of more help than just knowing how to use a computer. Yeah, computer training can make someone feel more confident in themselves, but its not enough to just teach them a skill. They need more support, and I think a more comprehensive service packaging will go a long ways towards achieving a more equitable society.

This is the first week in many months that I do not have any outreaches. I had two of them to focus on for the past several months. One was from a high school and the other was an after school program.

The high school group was a bit difficult. Most the kids were there by default, since the options they wanted were already full. But it ended up ok. I will say I tried to use a curriculum and that miserably failed. It partly happened that way since half the kids were already familiar with video production and some imovie (though they failed to tell me that during our first day, no wonder why they were not paying attention). It also may have happened because another portion of the group was completely uninterested in learning. Some of these kids have issues with instant gratification. They want results now. There was little interest in planning. And then when it came time to shoot, there was no planning to fall back on. I also hate to say this, but it was kinda a rotten group of kids. A couple of loud mouths and show offs detract from the rest of the group and impede on learning. But I guess that's a common complaint. One of the students even voiced her distaste for the class and completely disrespected the teacher. She called the teacher lazy and annoying and all these things right to her face. Maybe kids these days have little respect and little patience.

For one kid, all he wanted to do was hustle and make rap and beats and all that junk. I finanlly gave in, since he was not productive to the group, and let him play with garageband. I explained the program to him, gave him a tutorial. Even set him up. And he couldn't even figure it out. All he wanted to do was make beats. And we have that capacity. But he wanted it instantly-  he sat at the computer for nearly two hours with nothing to show.  geez.

Anyways, they did have some final results. There was a psa about basketball and physical activity. And there were grandios plans for a motorcycle fundraiser where motorcycle groups in the area would preform tricks and stuff. That fundraiser was cancelled. But at least there were two good interviews about motorcycles and safety and some other issues that were turned into a short movie. Nothing festival worthy, but I'm sure glad that they at least produced something. I also had some good talks about consumerism and why those nike air forces and michael jordans are so important. Puts the whole media literacy in perspective when trying to teach it to a bunch of urban youth who work hard at crappy jobs to earn the money to get the shoes and the looks to be socially accepted.

The other group at the after-school center turned out well, despite a few obstacles. The kids were making a video about their center to show parents at a community brunch. They got great footage and interviews. BUT lo and behold, one of the cameras I was using was freakin broken. And I had no idea until it was editing time because I never went over the footage. I guess the heads on the camera were misaligned resulting in digital glitches in the video and the sound. Also, one of the mics was malfunctioning.

LESSON: always go back and look at your footage. Ideally, import it into a computer.

In the end, it worked out ok. Kids got to use a camera, which most of them never have before. But there was little time for editing, which was what some the kids were really excited about. I think some of those kids are signing up for our summer classes too, so that was a good way to get more kids involved.

The next month will be spent fixing some other videos, preparing for summer classes, and working on the policies and guidelines for the youth media program here

Okay so I'm sure we've all experienced this...being nervous. In less then two weeks I'm beginning my first after-school program. At two of the local middle schools I will be teaching students how to conduct oral histories. This is a kind of pilot to see if the program will occur next fall...HOPEFULLY it does. I'm looking forward to working with the kids but still trying to figure out everything I need. So if anyone has an tips for the first day let me know.

Take care all.

Elisha

Comment from danielle martin on May 1, 2007 - 2:21pm

I've got lots of stuff around doing storytelling with youth that might help....and I'd definitely be interested in any oral history stuff you develop or dig up.

Ever heard of StoryCorps? They have a spot on NPR public radio and they do these mobile labs where they get people in pairs to interview each other. They have a pretty cool online tool for setting up interview questions - http://www.storycorps.net/participate/question_generator/ and a toolkit for doing audio interviews - http://www.storycorps.net/participate/do-it-yourself_guide/.

I'm going to be calling you next week for May check-in's so let's talk more!

-Danielle

Well there was a lot of deliberation about me going to a conference around here. But finally it was decided that I would be going to the ACM 2007 International Conference & Trade Show.

But things have changed. And it's all thanks to that lovely bit of legistlation that SBC/AT&T pushed down Michigan's throat a few months back.

While Comcast did agree to maintain it's contract with the CMC, they also took advantage of the loop hole in under the new laws which allows them to change the payment schedule. So the francise fees (over $150,000) that the CMC usually gets in April will not be coming until August. Thus all expenitures must be cut back to the bone.

So, I will not be attending the ACM conference. Nor will anyone at the Media Center be doing so including Laurie, our director, who was scheduled to speak there.

That's the way the Public Access cookie crumbles.

I don't think I'm going to be presenting the Media Center with any new program ideas. Not unless my idea is a money maker. And charging for services would kind of defeat the point. *shrug*

It's a tough time to be in this business.

I hope everyone is doing well. 

Later,

Rich 

Comment from lauren bratslavsky on May 1, 2007 - 11:33am

Oh Rich- that's awful. Ohio may go done the path of Michigan. Too bad no one is going, the Grand Rapids CMC seems like one of the best in the country. Are you considering going to the Allied Media Conference in Detroit? (Finally, a media conference in the mid-west). Good luck with the youth media business.

Comment from danielle martin on May 1, 2007 - 2:28pm

Hey Rich,

That major stinks! I definitely feel the pain as we tried to outreach to public access stations to get VISTAs and they just can't do it. And I also know quite a few folks trying to convice PEG access stations to do more stuff digitally and they just can't imagine it. I actually sat in at a conference at MIT a few months ago where someone (a person NOT from the public access world) suggested that public access stations should accept their fate and come up with an "exit strategy" of moving to all online endeavors. It's a really hard fight to talk to folks about too - I mean, many people see public access as a bunch of Wayne's World like content that they don't care about.

ug.

-Danielle

Comment from cheryl jerozal on May 2, 2007 - 12:37am

maybe you could go to this conference: Communities and Technologies Conference

it's not too far away from you and maybe you could convince them you should qualify as a student so you could be a student volunteer

Hello everyone! Time for an update. I've been way way busy lately (I'm sure you all know how that feels). We just finished a weeklong workshop with middle schoolers at the Marin Youth Center's Computer Clubhouse. It was my first time in a computer clubhouse, they seem like a great idea! While I was there I learned a little about making beats using FruityLoops. Fun! But a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Right now the main things on my plate are working with Danielle and others on Stories for Change, a web portal for community-based digital storytelling facilitators. Danielle is head of the committee that's creating the site and I'm helping with content collection. We're getting close to launch so I've been extra busy gathering up resource materials, formatting them, and uploading to the site. It's a Drupal-based site so luckily the uploading is relatively simple. (someone else built the site, someone far techier than I am!)

Anyway it's been really eye-opening to see all the work that goes into planning a website. The site should be really great resource for anyone interested in using digital storytelling in their community work. I'll keep you posted on when we launch.

Other news:

--Fellow VISTAs Naomi Jimenez and Brittney Fosbrook came to CDS to do a digital storytelling workshop a few weeks ago. Yay! Hopefully they will post their stories on Blip.tv to share them. It was good to have a little VISTA reunion...I hope we can collaborate further on digital storytelling work with their organizations.

--I finally got an external hard drive to hold all my work! Thanks goodness. I've been having a lot of issues staying organized because there hasn't been one computer where I can work all the time. I'd been daydreaming about this portable drive from LaCie and voila! CDS came though and now I've got it in my hot little hands.

--Speaking of hard drives and such, we also just got two new flash drives to use in our workshops. They are super handy, especially since we often need to transfer files from machine to machine, Mac to PC, etc. We found these 2 gb flash drives for just $20, can't complain about that. What we do complain about is the way our flash drives tend to grow legs and walk away from our workshops. This time we've attached smurf keychains to the drives, we'll see if it makes them a little trickier to just stuff into your pocket. I ran across these other ideas for how to make USB flash drive modifications, seems like good clean CTC VISTA fun and an anti-theft measure, too. Maybe I can make one out of the VISTA robot?

Comment from lauren bratslavsky on May 1, 2007 - 2:38pm

Thanks for that great link! We've been having problems too. Seems like most electronics have legs and walk off. I'll definitely be using this.

A coworker just suggested I turn this into a one-day workshop for kids. Maybe even go to some electronics store and ask them to donate some flash drives even. This project has got a cooool factor to it.

Hi everyone,

Hey Pink House, say what!

Well the kids at the Pink House continue to amaze me with their dedication to the programs hosted there.

They are growing leaps and bounds due to the different programs offered here at the Neighborhood Resource Center. I can honestly say I can see this community beginning to embrace the PINK HOUSE in their community. Dondre and Darius Simmons presented a service learning project called Zig the Pig to the Ardmore/Sherwood Forest neighborhood association on last month. They are the get this ZIG Ambassadors for the project representing two schools ( St. Andrews Middle and Stono Park Elementary).They are also my newphews (oh I'm just so proud of how far they've come since they came here!) This is a first in the history of the community to have children as a part of the community meeting. Check out the first video we made!

What's A Zig Ambassador?

Go PINK HOUSE, SAY WHAT!

This group of kids created a commercial with the help of our parent involvement program here hosted at the PINK HOUSE. One of the parents used countless hours to assist the children in creating a video which they spliced and diced until they got Zig II.

The PINK HOUSE KIDS are now working on a computerized radio show to be hosted on Blogtalkradio.com. Wait to you see (or should I say hear) all the hard work these kids have put into this project.

Our prospective date to air is April 20,2007. Yes, that tomorrow, and boy am I nervous! I can only image how the kids are feeling about know. The time will be 4:30pm til 5:30pm.

On last week the local radio station who has partnered with us to make the radio show a reality, invited our kids to the radio station to see how radio shows work behind the scenes. They really got a lot of good information and they got a chance to talk on the radio to see how it feels. Hats off to Citadel Broadcasting for their involvement in the community. Thanks Ms. Toby Smith from Heaven Talk 1390 am and Gentry Via for his time and dedication to the community and to the PINK HOUSE KIDS!

Listen out for WPHK that those (WONDERFUL PINK HOUSE KIDS).

The Ardmore/Sherwood Forest Newsletter has a new face thanks to Rev. C. King and our new edition Ms. Shirley Washington. They took my amaturistic attempt at community reporting to a whole new level of community organizing, and communicating with the community. Hats off ladies, You did a great job!

Our next event is an appreciation meeting for stakeholders in the community. The meeting will be the first of it's kind. It will be hosted outside with food and awards to say thank you to businesses in the neigborhood who care about The Ardmore/Sherwood Forest community.

Well, I got some much to do and so little time.......

Renae Out...........

Hey PINK HOUSE Say What.......