Clubhouse Leadership

Last week I spoke about holding an election for a clubhouse president and vice president. If you are interested in becoming a leader in the NWAC Intel Computer Clubhouse, it is time to start working on your campaign! Election Day is Wednesday, March 31, 2010. In order to run you must have been a member of the clubhouse for at least 6 months. It doesn't matter how old you are or whether you are male or female. If you want to make our clubhouse better and you have a vision for how to do this, then start creating your campaign posters, commercials and announcements!

There were a total of 16 projects uploaded to the Village last week. The following 11 members uploaded at least one project:

Martez - I wasn't sure if the two projects Martez uploaded were his own creations, but please keep in mind that they should be your own original works. The Village is your online portfolio. It should reflect your best works. I like Martez' pictures, although I am a little scared of Sasuke.

Marcus - My comment to Marcus on the Village said, "I know you can and should do better". When I look at the projects you upload to the Village, I expect to see your best work. I was disappointed with both projects that Marcus uploaded because I believe he can do better, and they did not reflect his "best" works. Everyone should know that they should post their best works. Marcus' "E" was pretty cool, but an "e" by itself is just an "e". Since this project was done using Pivot, my imagination saw the "e" walking to be joined by the letter "v" followed by "o" followed by "l". Spell something! That would be really cool!

Bryan I liked this Pivot project. When using Pivot you have to work on the details, the more frames you have, the better the final project.

Treymaine My favorite project this week is Pepe Le Pew. I love the colors, the background, the layering and the subjects. It was very well done. I'm definitely going to put it in my best pics folder. Great job, Trey!

Glynn - I'll say it again. If you want to learn a few things about Pivot, ask Glynn. He did a great job on this project! You have to have the patience to produce a great project. I can tell that he put time into making this project. Keep up the good work and I appreciate it when you share what you know.

Taryn - This was Taryn's first project. She and her sister, Jade, are new members. This is a very nice project. I learned about Taryn from this project, like she likes softwall and the color red. I hope she also likes doing projects and learning new software.

Kenyae - This is a really cool morph. Kenyae is getting pretty good at morphing. We're going to have to see how this skill can work in our video creations. The program Morpher is only on two of the clubhouse computers, so if you want to learn about morphing, you need to get with Kenyae for a training session.

Jade is Taryn's younger sister. I'm very please that she completed and uploaded two projects. I really like the birthday card she created for her friend. You are a good friend when you think enough to create a personal card. This was very well done, especially since she just learned to use The Print Shop. Great job, Jade! Keep up the good work!

Lewis combined doing a project in the clubhouse with completing a homework assignment when he wrote a paper about President James K. Polk. It was very interesting to read. It has a few typos, but overall it was good enough for a "B" from me. I can't wait to hear what grade his teacher gave him. Good job, Lewis, just remember to proofread your writings.

James - I really enjoyed listening to the music James created. It was not only good to me, he got a "cool ping" from Gail Breslow, the Director of the entire Intel Computer Clubhouse Network. Way to go, James! (I cool pinged it, too!)

Marcellous - I hope that Marcellous is comfortable uploading to the Village. I have seen him create great projects using Pivot and Legos, but I wasn't seeing anything uploaded. This portfolio cover is a great start. I hope it is an omen for money coming in his future. I also saw that he started working on the NXT Robot. I'm looking forward to the Lego robot being built. It would be a good idea to take pictures of your progress and upload them to the Village. You can use the Intel Create and Share camera that is attached to the old computer. After the robot is complete you can take all of your pictures and put them in Adobe Premiere and create a time-lapsed photography video. That would be cool! There are also some great robotic ideas on Youtube, do a search for nxt programs.

Clubhouse Village Usage

As all of you should now know, the use of the Computer Clubhouse Village is an essential part of your membership in the NWAC Intel Computer Clubhouse. Every weekend I review the projects done by members that are posted to the Village. I report information about the postings each week in this blog. I believe that every member that signed into the clubhouse during the week should have their name listed in this report. If your name is not listed, then that means you did no projects. Failure to do projects is a reason for your membership to be canceled.

There were 11 projects uploaded by six different members. They are:

• Deja with 2 projects, a twilight poster (because she's a big fan), and a poster paying homage to her true love (and mine), Michael Jackson. Great job, Deja! (Just note: the spelling of husband has no "o").
• Demarcus also completed two projects, after being informed of his teetering membership, he stepped up and completed a cool Nicky Minaj calendar. (I can credit him for giving it a creative name, by calling it "Nickalder" -- pretty cool!) A sure sign that your work is pretty good is when someone asks for a copy. Keep up the good work, Demarcus, because I really do hate to cancel any member!
• Demario may have only uploaded one project (which was more than most of you did), but he did the most exploration. His Bryce project is not only a beautiful picture, it is also an animation. Demario learned to create his own Youtube account; add videos to his playlist; and how to search for tutorials. He used a Bryce tutorial from youtube to help him create the animation. In addition to creating in the clubhouse, Demario volunteered to help organize and setup clubhouse equipment. We used our time wisely and we saw progress! We made a dramatic difference in the clubhouse. You ROCK, Demario!!! Thank you so much!
• Kevin also did one project. I wasn't able to view it because I don't have Morpheus on my home computer, but knowing that you did a morph project, I can't wait to see it when I get into the Clubhouse. I like it when clubhouse members try something new.
• Alethia uploaded two projects. Along with several other members, Alethia had informed me that she did not know how to upload her projects to the Village. We went over the process. She did a great job on creating an ice mountain using Bryce and successfully uploaded it. She also created a photo manipulation in Photoshop. She put herself in a picture at Cedar Point (her favorite amusement park). She uploaded this picture for her profile picture on the Village. I like it a lot! Great job on both of your projects, Alethia! I hope that you now feel assured that you can do this. Remember that I have made a how to sheet with step-by-step instruction, so you can use this to get your projects uploaded, or ask me for help.
  

• The person with the most projects uploaded for the week is Trevon. Trevon worked on the same image in Photoshop and produced three different results. I like the third version, best. I am not only proud of your diligent work on this project; I also appreciate that you work on projects at home. I love it! Keep up the good work, Trevon.
  

There was over 20 clubhouse members in the clubhouse last week, some of you did projects that were not uploaded to the Village (Donovan!). Please make sure you upload your projects. If you are working on a project that is not complete, or if you are doing a project that cannot be uploaded (such as robotics or sewing), you should write about what you are working on, take pictures and video and upload them for your project. I need to know that you are using the clubhouse for clubhouse-related activities. We want our clubhouse to be the best!~!~!

Our Clubhouse is a New AYV Site

Jeff Arthur sent me an email announcement that the NWAC Intel Computer Clubhouse has been selected to participate in the Adobe Youth Voices project. Yeah! I am so happy for this news! Basically, Adobe Youth Voices is the Adobe Foundation's signature philanthropy initiative empowering young people to Create with Purpose. Youth use digital tools to express themselves about issues important to them. I am excited for this opportunity. I have wanted our clubhouse to become part of this project for over two years. It is a wonderful platform to focus our video projects towards meaningful messages to and about our community.

Remember, Adobe is the company that makes Photoshop, Flash, Acrobat, Illustrator, Premiere and many other amazingly creative software programs. With our new equipment we were only able to afford to purchase the Adobe Creative Suite software for three of our computers. The Adobe Youth Voices award provides the CS4 software for all of our computers! It will also provide the funds to purchase some additional cameras and video equipment.

I will have to go to Atlanta for training in April, but we can start now to brainstorm on ideas for AYV projects. What are things that concern you about your neighborhood? What do you think can be done to make youth smarter? kinder? healthier? better? How would you show yourself to the world? What would you want people in China to know about you? There are hundreds of ideas that we can explore through video projects. Check out the Adobe Youth Voices Gallery to see what other participants have created.

So, your ideas are needed! Let's get ready to make outstanding (award-winning) vidoes!

Your Clubhouse Membership

Yes, I'm back! I am going to speak to clubhouse members via this blog. Clubhouse members are required to read blog posts every time they visit the clubhouse. As many of you know, last week I started speaking with each of you about your interest in and knowledge of the clubhouse mission. I gained a great deal of insight about those of you who really want to be a part of the NWAC Intel Computer Clubhouse. I had to cancel some memberships; I put some memberships on hold; and I expressed my pride and appreciation to outstanding clubhouse members who do creative projects in the clubhouse.

I am especially pleased with the works of Kenyae. If you have not seen Kenyae's creations, click here to see his profile on the Village. (You will have to sign in to the Village to view any Village links). Kenyae's projects depict exploration in the use of Bryce, Paint, Pivot, Morpher, and more. The fact that Kenyae has uploaded over 20 projects created in the Clubhouse is a testiment to what I know can be done by every clubhouse member. I cannot allow "space wasters" to "hang out" in the NWAC Intel Computer Clubhouse. I want to see more creative projects on the Village.

I have listened to comments from each of you and discovered that some of you who have only posted 1 item to the Village, had the item uploaded by me and you didn't learn how to repeat the process. I have now created an instruction sheet with step-by-step guides to how to upload a project to the Village. Please take the time to link to this information whenever needed. Or be sure to ask for help getting your projects uploaded. There are several members, in addition to Kenyae, that can help you. If I am not available, then ask James, Donovan, Kevin, Mikayla, Martez, Glynn or Marcus for help. If you have been told that your membership is on hold you need to be sure to learn to upload your projects.

You should use the Internet to look for helpful tutorials on how to use programs like Bryce, Photoshop, Flash, PowerPoint and the others available on clubhouse computers. I want to thank Martez for giving me the idea to setup a playlist of training videos on youtube. I will be using this blog to link to some good videos as I find them. When I look at your Village profile, I want to see that your projects show improvement and better skills over time. I know that everyone of you can get better and better and better if you practice, practice, practice.