Digital Arts Service Corps - vistalife

I love books.

gariet cowin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:07:25 +0000

This isn't really VISTA related, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to the Portland Public Library system, which is super-great. Due to lack of funds, VISTA's often have to find free entertainment, and for me, that means the library. The Portland library system allows me to check out 150 items at once. They also let me place holds online, and then they ship my books (or DVDs or CDs or whatever else) to the library location of my choice (for free). All items that I check out are mine for three weeks.

Recently (at the library), I discovered a book series called The Story of Science, by Joy Hakim. Although it seems to be written for 5th graders, I found all three books to be fascinating (especially the second book, "Newton At the Center", and the second half of the third book, "Einstein Adds a New Dimension"). In fact, I am now considering going back to school after my VISTA term is up, and becoming a scientist. Hooray!

OLLIE gigs and Dental complaints

gariet cowin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:45:09 +0000

I'm just finishing up week one (week two for some schools) for the Winter session of OLLIE. The groups we are working with this time already seem to be an infinite improvement over some of the groups from last session. I'm not going to put all of the blame on the schools and students though. I was so burnt out by the end of the Fall session, that I probably wasn't very fun to work with either. From now on, I am going to make sure that I have a couple weeks between sessions where I can regroup and de-stress. That doesn't necessarily mean a vacation. In my case, it just means doing something else that doesn't involve kids.

In other news, I am extremely frustrated with my dental situation. I've been avoiding the dentist because I can barely afford a cleaning, not to mention whatever fillings might be required. Turns out this was a bad idea. But now I REALLY can't afford to go to the dentist because I know something is (expensively) wrong, but not wrong enough to warrant immediate relief-of-pain surgery which is the only type of coverage I have. So what can I do? Wait until it gets worse and painful, I guess.

Would it really cost that much for the government to throw in a little basic dental care for us? It seems to me that it would save them money on costly emergency dental procedures. Maybe I'll just swap my teeth out for some dentures. Then I won't have to worry about it.

What's Going On.

gariet cowin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:51:12 +0000

Hey everybody! Long time, no blog.

Things have been crazy around here as of late, but now that it is spring break, I have one week without OLLIE gigs to catch up on everything that I have been neglecting. That means four short movies to edit, some DVDs to create, and a website to build. We'll see how much I actually get done.

In other news, I managed to put together another Kirsten Academy class (after nearly 3 months without one). The topic this time was stop-motion animation! Check out the movies we made here. We used a program called iStopMotion, which can be purchased online for about $40. Recently, however, I was talking with Andrew of YVXN/NYMAP fame, and he recommended a program called FrameThief, which is actually free!

So if any of you want to make some stop-motion movies as well, download FrameThief, find yourself a digital camcorder and a firewire cable, and get to it. It's as easy as that. If you watch all 5 of our movies (which are all very short), you can see that we used a variety of materials; construction paper, magazines, clay, coloring books, buttons, etc. It was really easy and lots of fun. In fact, there have been requests for an encore lesson. If I ever get around to teaching a second class, I'll try to put together a tutorial video as well, so that all of you can see how easy it is to make your own animation.

After which, I might declare a cross-country CTC VISTA supershort animation contest! Anybody interested?

Snow!!!

Raymond Varona — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:58:49 +0000

It's painfully obvious that I grew up in the south when I get excited over 1/2" of snow (mind yer snickering, Boston-folk), but I should also add that our lab closes when schools close. That means I have at least one day of peace and quiet. Ahhhhh.... Well, apart from the racket caused by the construction next door anyway.

Life at C4K is chugging along nicely. Our recruiting has been up and down (12 last month, but only 4 this month), but the ups seem to have been enough as the lab feels more full than when the year first started. Workshop attendance is still relatively low (3-4 on average), but those that do go seem to enjoy it. I've also started gravitating towards guided activities versus class settings. The more successful workshops have been things like making popup cards, CD art, posters, etc. I've been trying workshops that lead into the tougher topics like digital video and audio with things like dubbing and digital storytelling, but we're still having a tough time getting kids to try them.

One of the neater programs thats starting up is a web development project led by a web design firm. They've offered to volunteer their time and expertise to train a select group of kids to rebuild a website by offering weekly workshops, but it'd be mostly up to the kids to design the site and figure out what they'd like to do. I'm guessing it'll take some gentle prodding to get them going, but we have some really good kids that are attending so I think this particular program has a good chance at doing well.

My random side project for this month is looking into revamping our inventory system. What normally happens is that after all the information is logged into the database, we put a numbered yellow sticker on the components. However, this tends not to work so well for tracking and logging, so I'm looking into rigging up a cheap barcoding system. I picked up some of those cheapie Cue Cat barcode scanners ('fixed' with CatNip) for use as the input and a free barcode font to create stickers for output. Works pretty well so far, except now comes the hard part of coding an Access form in VBA to automate the procedures. Blech. Code.

Looks like we've got a bunch of cool new VISTAs, welcome everyone and best of luck to you in your year of service!

Issues and Updates

Corey Funderburk — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:16:47 +0000

It has truly been a while since I wrote a blog. Anyone who reads Laura's blogs, however, pretty much knows what I'm doing. My friends here in San Diego call Laura my "life partner" because we spend so much time together - living, commuting, working. Thankfully, we get along and haven’t killed each other yet :). I feel like recently most of my time has been spent in trying to overcome a lot of bureaucracy.

Issue #1: Ed Award. I recently discovered that my loan doesn't necessarily fall into the "qualified" definition of a loan for which an Ed Award can be applied. Apparently, for a loan to be “qualified” it has to be given by the state/federal government. Why then, don’t they say “qualified state/federal loan?” I received a special loan through my school’s alumni association that is interest free so it is considered private. To transfer a loan to a federal one, you have to be currently enrolled in school. Well, had these “qualifications” been explicitly written on the website when I was first looking into AmeriCorps (I was still in school) I might have been able to change it. Instead, however, I joined up and even completed orientation without the slightest inkling that my loan would not be accepted. Thankfully, after a lot of conversations and some letter writing I have been able to get my loan approved. Yae!

Issue #2: Healthcare. For details on these shenanigans, you should read Laura’s blog. The basic gist – it is pretty much impossible to find a clinic in San Diego. The one clinic listed within 30 miles on Seven Corner’s website is only for children. Believe me, it’s true, we went there twice. How many juveniles are AmeriCorps members? Probably not many. I did look into finding a doctor when I first signed up but never followed through. My bad. Honestly, though, that wouldn’t have helped in Laura’s situation unless they had after-hours, same day appointments available. It is important to be able to go to some sort of 24-hour emergency center and in San Diego, that doesn’t seem to be a possibility with AmeriCorps benefits (not insurance). By the way, downtown inner-city emergency rooms = not so fun. Thank goodness for the Purell dispenser on the wall. I read Danielle’s reply to Laura’s blog and I was absolutely shocked by the advice Danielle had been given, “…show up at the ER and declare you have no insurance - depending on the state, you sometimes get better coverage that way than if you tell them about Seven Corners.” That is so sad. I told Mike Denegal what Danielle said about asking him for advice, he just laughed and said, “I love Danielle :).”

Now that I’m pretty much done ranting and raving I can tell you all about the things I’ve been up to at Pangea. Pangea is a non-profit software development company that specializes in web-based resident data management tools (I know it’s a mouthful). Our current systems include: AASC Online, AASC Families, Abilities4RSC, and Mercy Families. Here’s a little rundown on what these actually do: The systems are designed for service coordinators (like social workers who live on-site at an elderly home, low-income family housing project, etc). These service coordinators have daily contact with their residents in which they sort of act like a concierge would at a hotel – they provide services for their residents, whatever those might be. These services are provided in hopes that residents can improve their livelihoods and/or become self-sufficient. For example, say Mr. Johnston is living with his family in government-funded, low-income housing and needs to get a job but doesn’t have many skills. The service coordinator could invite him to a computer class that he/she is putting on, set him up to attend someone else’s, or possibly even help him get involved in a degree- or certificate-earning program. Anything she does for him she inputs into one of the systems. Two months later, after finishing his classes, Mr. Johnston lands a great networking assistant job at a local company and is able to move he and his family into an independent apartment building (that is, he no longer requires financial assistance to pay his rent). Well, this outcome is also recorded into the system. So, in the end, the system has recorded the steps the service coordinator took to assist Mr. Johnston in becoming independent. Having it in an electronic format allows the service coordinators to run reports and have tangible proof of the good they are doing. This translates into more government grants and funding for their residences and, therefore, more people helped. To try to keep track of all of this by hand would be mind boggling, whereas the systems can do it in about 5 seconds.

So that’s the basic idea, and now you may be wondering, “So what do you do AmeriCorey?” Laura and I have been working on the design of two main information systems: Abilities 4 Mentoring and Abilities 4 Education. Basically we get to design all of the forms and reports from the front-end perspective. The Mentoring system tracks mentoring relationships and their outcomes: Did the mentee’s grades improve? Did he/she stay out of trouble? The Education system is specific to San Diego City Schools and is being built in coordination with a grant given to track AP testing and its effects. The schools want to see if students who take part in programs like AVID or AP classes are more likely to go to college. In addition to these new systems, all of the older systems are constantly being upgraded so we end up doing lots of testing to find the bugs and quirks as well as field tech-support calls. Additionally, we’ve been working on updating training materials for all of the systems.

By the way, we got a little gift from our buddies at Microsoft. Apparently, this is what half a million dollars looks like:

Enough about work. One thing I am very excited about is the change from CNET to the NTEN conference. I went to college in LA and I am totally over that city (No offense to true Los Angelens, I just want a change of scenery). I am definitely excited to have some Washington DC adventures: new maps, subways, dead presidents, dollar theaters, the possibilities abound! Oh yeah, and learning at the conference too I guess.

This blog has become freakishly long. I’m making up for lost time I guess. Anyhow, I hope you all had amazing holidays and are refreshed and ready to get back to saving the world!

Corey

vaguely related to VISTA life...

gariet cowin — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:41:56 +0000

Hey, everybody. I just wanted to let you all know that I updated my Kirsten Academy blog. I don't know if any of you are interested, but for the December class, I managed to raise over $450 for charity, and my friends all got a lot of cool art. Total expenses for me: $15 (a few snacks, and a SASE for an artist who said she probably wouldn't get around to sending me any art unless I sent her one).

Here's what you do:

1) Make a lot of friends/ acquaintances (if they are artists, that's a plus, but it's not necessary)

2) Tell them you are having an art auction for charity, and that if they want to come, they have to make and donate some art.

3) If anybody protests on the grounds that they aren't artists, invite them over and help them make something (while making something yourself). Also, let them know that crafts/clothes/food can count as art.

4) Throw a party/auction! BYOB! Bringing snacks is encouraged!

As for the auction, I decided to go with a blind/silent format. Everybody got their own bid sheets, that were numbered 1-50 (each number corresponded to a piece of art). I also forced everybody to bid at least $1 on EVERYTHING, so that I wouldn't be stuck with any unwanted art at the end of the day. And I included a "Spending Limit" box on the bid sheets, so that people could bid high on lots of items without worrying about winning too much, and owing more than they could afford.

It ended up being a little more complicated to figure out the winning bids this way (it took a couple of hours to make sure that the art was fairly distributed), but it also meant that I was the only person who saw the bids. So nobody got their feelings hurt. And it also meant that there were no angry bidding wars. Cheap, Fun, and for a Good Cause. What more could you ask for?

Making it...

Richard T. Anderson — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:44:54 +0000

I have been wanting to say something about making it on low income.

One, I don't have any secret to doing so. But I aught to, I suppose.

I think I'm a bit different. A lot VISTA talk was about sacrificing by making such a low income for a year. I get the impression that for a lot of you, this is a big change. I, on the other hand, have hardly ever made more than I'm making now. And in fact, had been unemployed since June when I started my service in September.

I don't think I've ever cracked $15,000 for a year. The amount I'll be making from the living allowence is much more typical. And I've made less.

So, I aught to have great advice. But I don't I have horrible credit and I've been to a doctor once since my dad's insurance stopped covering me when I was 19 (I'm 36 now). Hmm. I can say this, I don't trust credit cards or checking accounts. Something always gets messed up. And don't live off your student loans. That was a bad idea.

This is the poverty level, but I still go out. I see movies. I hang out with friends, eat dinner (or lunch) out occaisionally. Take my ex-girlfriend's kids to eat or to a movie. I'd date, but I don't know how to tell what's a date and what's hanging out. I live like I always have, with bills hovering, a car that has problems, and lots of stress.

It's not easy, but with the health benefits (I've foresworn the Seven Corners for an MI Health Card) it's actually an improvement. The fact that I'm doing something I enjoy for a change is amazing. And once this yeat is out I hope that my experience will translate into a job that I enjoy and gets me above the poverty level for a change.

I hope every one is doing well on their low incomes. I had a bit of freak out session with my car tire going flat twice and the door refusing to shut, but I'm doing okay now. I got a used tire for $25 and I just have to remember not to open my driver's side door. :D

Take Care,

Rich

CTCNet's National Conference Recap

Patricia Conrad-Wexler — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:52:40 +0000

By Patricia Conrad-Wexler

Attendees of the CTCNET Conference in July 2006 arrived by many modes of transport but I and my director at Young Entrepreneurs Society, Tim, drove to Washington D.C. in a Toyota Prius. It was surely an economical way for a VISTA and the director of a nonprofit to show how folks can get by on almost no income!

Driving to Washington DC for a conference was a first for me. The Hyatt Regency afforded us beautiful accommodations at a very good price, even if it was beyond our budgets. How exciting it was to get there and meet so many new faces, particularly at the dinner given for us at the restaurant at Union Station, where we ate well and shared stories. It's always fun for me to finally put a face to the name that I've been seeing on the computer, not unlike finally seeing a radio personality for the first time.

Signing on as a volunteer prior to the conference allowed me not only to attend the conference for free, but it also gave me the chance to meet more people and see the mechanism of the workshops from the inside. I monitored sessions and turned in evaluation sheets to Kavita Sing and the other staff and organizers of the conference. It was a very easy job to perform for so much benefit.

My only challenge was how to squeeze in a trip to the American Indian Exhibit with fellow CTC VISTA, Shannon McCue. I was scheduled for the whole day each day of the conference, either to be at the registration desk (another way to meet far more people than I would have otherwise), or to be monitoring the sessions. Luckily for me, another volunteer took a two hour slot, Shannon rented a scooter, and we were off to the museum in the midday sun. It was surely hot, but well worth the trip.

There were daily events for us to mingle in the registration area, including a raffle. I was so enjoying the responses of the teens who won prizes that I almost missed my chance to win an HP Printer when they called my number! I finally realized what had happened and got my goodie. I'm always saying I'm not lucky. What nonsense!

It was a great trip; I learned a lot about volunteering, accessibility, IC3 training, free computer training with GCF Global Learning, and had the chance to enjoy a reception just for our group at the Canadian Embassy. There's an echo chamber in the elevated circle outside of the entrance to the Embassy and I enjoyed it with other tourists in the area. This was a most exciting time as a VISTA, and I highly recommend that all give it a try.

Reflecting as I'm exiting...

Ellen-Rae Cachola — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:03:36 +0000

[From the blog of Ellen-Rae Cachola, August 11, 2006.]

HPP Staff: Mary, Cali, Bobby and Ellen-Rae

I must say my favorite memories from the past year is meeting the most coolest people who I consider good friends! I think this project really got me closer with community and technology, helping me to see good side of technology. I know this roots reggae band called Bambu Station that say "technology is the tool for civil-lie-zation." Yet being part of community tech centers have helped me know how to use technology to serve the voices and perspectives of the oppressed/disadvantaged people. Good memories includes the orientations, conferences, blogs, sharing of knowledge, and feeling that many involved were all on the same level of caring and wanting social transformation, which fills me with inspiration still.

Ellen-Rae finished her VISTA service in September '06, but continues to work with Homeless Prenatal Program in San Francisco. Read more from Ellen-Rae's CTC VISTA blog.

Good morning CTC VISTA Project

Richard T. Anderson — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:07:05 +0000

Good Morning,

Well, the sun is rising here in Michigan on chilly Friday. My computer is now by the window, so I can look out on the sky, the trees, the road, and the apartment complex office.

Yesterday, Jeanne, my supervisor, said, "It's the last good day for a bike ride." She was probably right. It was unusually nice yesterday and it's supposed to get colder starting today. But you never know. There could always be a 60 degree day in December. This is Michigan, after all.

Work has been keeping me pretty busy, the last couple weeks. MoLLIE was out at a school nearly every day for two weeks. Now we're settling back into a lighter schedule. And I really want to focus on developing an audio class. We don't have surveys in yet telling us that that is specifically what the community wants, but I'm starting to think I should just proceed as if we have. Not having the survey's is just a way of procrastinating on doing something that I've never done, and thus is scary.

So, I'm going to go over my syllabi (syllabuses?) from my audio production class at Grand Valley and think about what would work for a beginning and advanced class. Seems like a good starting point.

In life news; I got a car. I've been without a car since July. And it really is no good in Grand Rapids. The public transit has improved over the years, but it's still not great for much besides going to and from work, and even then only if you are on a bus route (which fortunately I was).

Having a car means I can go out some nights. Especially nights when there are open mics for me to go and play my guitar and sing some songs.

My roommate and I are finally having a "house"-warming party. Which also doubles as a post Halloween, post-election celebration. And it's seems to have a six degrees of seperation aspect as well. If any VISTA's are in GR on Saturday, let me know, I'll give you directions.

Well, I'm probably already going a bit long for a blog. So I think I'll say adu.

Peace,

Rich