7 Years...and Counting!

The year our computer clubhouse opened was 2003. That same year, the Flagship Computer Clubhouse in Boston turned 10. We have a few years to go to reach my personal goal to achieve a decade, but I am so excited that we have reached seven! Seven is my favorite number! It has been prevalent in my life since the day I was born -- July 31. I was born on a Sunday and I was my mother's seventh child. My mother named me CAROLYN (her name, MALINDA, both have seven letters). I was born in a city (Detroit), in a hospital (Women's), on a street (Waverly), and went to a school (Willard); all with seven characters! If you think that's a lot, you should check out my list of 7 in my life. What is really amazing to me is that most of these things I had no control over! So it only seemed appropriate to celebrate the 7th anniversary of our computer clubhouse.

This was a great party that not only gave us the opportunity to learn about the history of the computer clubhouse, but it allows us to recognize the significance of having the only remaining computer clubhouse in Detroit. When we opened in 2003, there were three additional computer clubhouses that opened on the same day. Sadly, for the youth of this city, they are gone.

Since the NWAC Computer Clubhouse was awarded an Intel Refresh Grant last year, we were able to upgrade our hardware and software, and we are now ready to educate youth on using the latest technology tools. I am looking forward to seeing how you will design, create, invent and explore! Let's make some outstanding projects!

This picture shows Deonte, Mikayla, Selena and Donovan. They are all doing great projects in the clubhouse. Keep up the good work and remember to upload your best work to the Computer Clubhouse Village.

Clubhouse Closing

The clubhouse will be closed while I chaperone clubhouse members on the tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). We will be visiting Spelman College (for women); Morehouse College (for men); Clark-Atlanta University; Alabama State University and Tuskegee University.

Think about the projects you will work on when we return.

Importance of Using The Village

I decided that I am going to have to vent about the Village this week. Why, because there were only 8 projects uploaded last week -- and 4 of them were by Donovan! Who was only in the clubhouse on Wednesday, yet he managed to upload 4 projects. Thank you, Donovan! Now, what is going on with the rest of you? No, before I ask that question, let me exclude the 4 who also uploaded at least one project. Thank you, Tamara, Bryan, Kaprecia and Rhonda! Now, instead of asking the question, I'll simply state that doing projects and uploading your best projects to the Computer Clubhouse Village is required for you to continue coming to this clubhouse. If you do not have projects on the Village, then you are wasting the limited time, space and equipment of our clubhouse. This is unacceptable. We have new hardware and software. There are no excuses for any member not to be creating awesomely.
I know that many of you saw the awesome avatar character that Shanelle made of herself using Photoshop. The knowledge and skills for this creation came from a desire to learn and the determination to practice. For certain, Shanell is someone who can stay focused on what she wants to learn. She takes advantage of the free tutorials that provide guidance to master new skills. Her portfolio (that she hasn't uploaded to the Village) includes some great works using Photoshop. It excites me to see that she is expanding her knowledge into other programs like After Effects and Illustrator. Great job, Shanelle!


I see a lot of amazing work being done in the clubhouse. This past week Selena did a design with her email user name and worked with the pen tablet like a pro; Marcellous traced himself from a picture that included 3 or 4 other people and then he drew in a microphone that completely changed the scenario of the original picture; and Mikayla created a photo collage of her family. Unfortunately, I'm only one person, so things can slip past me. I don't always see your project while you are working on it. The Village is that place that you can be sure that I will see what you've done. Use it!

Assignments:

1. TP, V, B, P & PP
2. Preparing for 7th Anniversary and Lights on Afterschool party

October Plans

There are some important events planned for October.

This is the final week to upload a project that could be selected to be in the 2011 Computer Clubhouse calendar. If you have an original artwork project (Bryce, Photoshop, Paint, whatever) that you need help uploading, please let me know so I can help you. This opportunity ends on October 10, so let's get some great artwork submitted!

I want everyone working to build their portfolio of projects to display at our Open House/Lights On Afterschool/Birthday Party Celebrations on Thursday, October 21. This is a lot to cram into one evening, but it should be a lot of fun! Our computer clubhouse will turn seven this month, so we are going to have a birthday party to celebrate this milestone. As many of you know, there are clubhouses located throughout the United States and around the world, but this clubhouse is the only one in Michigan. There are a lot of people who don't even know that we exist. Our birthday celebration will include an open house event that you can invite family and friends to attend to see our creativity. Our birthdate coincides with the annual national event called Lights on Afterschool. An initiative of Afterschool Alliance to put the spotlight on the importance of afterschool programs. We have participated in LOA events in the past. This is the first year that we have combined the event with our birthday. I think that I have a great team of members. I'm looking forward to a great evening!

October is also the month that I will chaperone several members on a trip to visit some Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU tours). Make sure you note that the computer clubhouse will be closed the last week of this month.

Assignments

1. There are some assignments that you should automatically know are required: typing, my blog, the Village, and your portfolio are done each time you visit the clubhouse.
2. Portfolio cover for PowerPoint
3. Photoshop project and view Photoshop videos
4. Photography
5. Introduction to Adobe Flash

Trace Your Face Successes

Patricia's Trace Your Face project is simple enough for anyone to do in one visit to the clubhouse. Unfortunately, Kristophur was the only member to attempt the project -- two weeks ago! I wasn't very happy with that. You need to remember that to continue to come into the computer clubhouse requires that you do projects. My job is to guide you through learning various software programs by doing projects. There are dozens of programs to learn and it takes studying and practicing to learn advance features. There are only a few members that are exempt from doing the assigned projects. This is because I know that they are focused on improving their knowledge and skills in a particular area. For example, I know that when James comes to the clubhouse he is working on music; I know that when Donovan comes he's doing Photoshop; I know that Treymaine works in Scratch; and most importantly, their Village portfolio reflects progress. If you have not been given exemption, then you have to do the assignments listed in this posting. Since the majority of you did not accomplish completing the assignments posted two weeks ago, I decided not to give any new assignments last week. I decided to see what we could accomplish from the old posting. I'm glad to show-off what a difference a week can make. Wow! Keyona did an awesome job on this project! As usual, she didn't just try to do the assignment once and call it done, she used the guidance that I provided and went on to work on a second and a third picture. And I can see how she improved with each attempt. Great job, Keyona! (Can I clone you?) I love how she added the details of the original picture. It works for this picture. Yet, Bryan did an equally great project and I'm glad that he didn't add the details of the original picture.

This was not a hard project, but it taught some important concepts about Adobe Photoshop, such as the use of the pencil and paint bucket tools, which many of you know about from Microsoft Paint. However, Photoshop adds the process of layering that can't be done in Paint. As you continue to use Photoshop, you will find that layering allows you to make amazing art and designs. I know that Keyona does beautiful projects using The Print Shop, so I'm really looking forward to what she will produce with Photoshop. Remember, there are lots of tutorials available on YouTube and at tv.adobe.com, as well as on the Computer Clubhouse Village. You can learn this program and get better and better, and even learn to use your creations in other programs, like PowerPoint, Flash, and Premiere.

I like the works done by Tim, Deonte, Reggie, Martoine, Pheobe and Malik, but I'm disappointed that not everyone uploaded their work to the Village. I know that Tim may still want to color his project, but it looks like Pheobe and Malik are finished. Remember that uploading your projects is a membership requirement. You don't need to upload every project that you create. You should upload your best works. Now, if you do not have a username and password for the Village, then you need to let me know. You cannot set up an account on your own. You need me to do it and if you have forgotten your password, you need me to reset it.

Assignments

1. Typing Practice
2. Read Blog & Leave your comment
3. Photoshop: Put yourself in a picture with yourself
4. Upload Project(s) to the Village
5. Draw a picture at the Green Table and scan it
6. Click this link and Watch the Photoshop Videos
7. Explore the Autodesk website

Note: If you have not done your video introduction and your portfolio cover, you need to do these, also.

Clubhouse Focus: Adobe and Autodesk

Note to Computer Clubhouse members:

Always remember to sign into The Village before reading this blog.

You must have a Village account and an email account (preferably, gmail). Let me know if you need these setup or if you forgot your password.

I am so excited that Autodesk has opened its education community to the network of computer clubhouses! I hope that many of you took the time to link off of last week's blog post to check out the Adobe and the Autodesk websites. These are both awesome companies with amazing software! We will be using these sites alot, so get familiar with them. Please note that if you are not familiar with recognizing a link, here is an example: Link to The Clubhouse Village website. Notice the color difference, underline and that your mouse pointer changes to a hand when you are on a link. Simply click your mouse to go to the link. Sometimes a link will open in it's own window, and you can just close it to go back to the original site; and other times you can click the back button (arrow in upper left corner). A link can also be a picture, so keep an eye out for the pointer changing to a hand. Such as when you put your mouse over this picture by Donovan.

Autodesk is a world leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. They make some amazing software for any type of design creation you can imagine. Their software was used in the making of the movie, Avatar. They have software for game making, movie making, architecture, engineering, and everything in between. In fact, like Adobe, there is so much good stuff that I have to focus training towards a specific category. I think that it is going to be fun to learn to design and create with the animation curriculum I have selected. Of course, if you have an interest in learning another area, let me know and I can download the required program(s) and guide you to training videos that will help you learn. As a group, though, we will focus on the Animation Academy curriculum provided directly from Autodesk. The process of downloading the required programs is going to take a few weeks; so we will be working on getting everyone familiar with Adobe Photoshop and Premiere.

Your assignments for this week are:

1. Read this blog and leave a comment
2. Typing Practice: Follow instructions on handout
3. Make a new binder cover for your 3-ring, clearview binder (Everyone must have their binder and binder cover by September 27)
4. Take 3 photos of yourself; 1 headshot, 1 full-body shot, and 1 choice (could be sitting, standing, close-up, far away, whatever)
5. Record a video introduction
6. Review the introduction video of Photoshop
7. Complete a Photoshop project and upload it to The Village

The following are suggestions and links to beginner Photoshop projects/training:

1. You can use your headshot and follow Patricia's instructions to Trace Your Face.

2. Start with the Getting Started episode and work your way through Learn Photoshop CS5. (Ask me about setting up an Adobe account so you will be able to store a playlist.)

3. Ask Donovan for help. The pictures in this post were done by him. He has been working in CS4, so he knows how to work with brushes and layers. You can link from his name to see his projects and profile on The Village.

Don't forget to check out all the links in this blog post and to leave a comment.

Clubhouse Program Resumes

I'm excited to have a new school year begin with great anticipation of the creativity that can come from our clubhouse. I am looking forward to welcoming new and old members into the clubhouse. There will be an orientation for all members and their parent(s) or guardian(s) to attend this week. Since attendance at the orientation is mandatory, I have scheduled it for both Thursday, September 9th at 6pm and Friday, September 10th at 5pm. There are several changes that have been implemented to improve the clubhouse. I will cover these issues during the orientation.

The computer clubhouse is a great place to learn some awesome software programs. Our participation in Adobe Youth Voices has provided each computer with the Adobe CS5 Production Premium. This suite of programs includes the award-winning Photoshop, as well as After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator, Soundbooth and more. In addition to the Adobe software, we now have access to the entire suite of Autodesk programs, including 3ds Max, Maya and programs used in the making of the movie, Avatar!

There is lots to learn in the clubhouse. I hope you're ready!

Teen Summit 2010

I had to shut down the clubhouse last week so that I, Donovan, James and Marcellous could attend Teen Summit 2010 in Boston. This was my 4th opportunity to participate in this awesome week of learning. The theme for this year was Mobilize! Act! Inspire! -- and indeed we did!

I picked up everyone and we left for the airport.

We arrived in Boston and took a cab to Northeastern University. We stayed in the West Village dorms.

Day 1 included a project fair for all the clubhouses to show off their talents and works.

Donovan displayed projects he'd done in Photoshop.

There was plenty of(and by that I mean, more than enough) food -- snacks, and meals.

Day 2 - We participated in a regional workshop. The Northwest Activities Center has the only computer clubhouse in Michigan. We are in the midwest region. We got to meet some of the members in our region. All were from Chicago where there are four computer clubhouses. My roommates were Brianna and Tytianna. We did a traveling storytelling project. It was fun!

That night we went to the Museum of Science for the Clubhouse to College/Clubhouse to Career (C2C) Fair. There were companies like Microsoft, Autodesk, Adobe, and Intel, as well as schools like Harvard, MIT, Berkelee School of Music and more.