Teen Tech Day Coming to New Orleans in April!

A organization I truly love and work with is NewOrleansTech.net.  NewOrleans Tech.Net is a hyperlocal news media organization that was founded to highlight the tech movement that is going on in the city.  Our purpose is to highlight groups, meet ups, events, and provide information that make our readers think about technology in different ways.  We want people to know that there is a vibrant tech community here in New Orleans with programmers, developers, and tech entrepreneurs.  It’s our culture that makes us unique and different from everyone else in the world.We have three initiatives that come out of our organization which are the website, our tech podcast, and our community outreach projects.

A project I have worked on that is truly dear to my heart is called Teen Tech Day! Teen Tech Day will be a one day event tailored toward youth in New Orleans, exposing them to technologies such as web design, programming, photography, podcasting, videography, and game development.  Our goal is to take twenty-five teenagers between the ages of 14 – 17 and get them excited about technology as a hobby, passion, or even a career.

We are doing this because we love technology and we want to pass this on to the next generation.  Many of our youth are only exposed to technology through computers and social media websites, but they can learn so much more.  Technology also has areas of math, science, and engineering that can spawn jobs and careers for young people.  Tech Teen Day will encompass interactive workshops and talks from various technologist in and around the New Orleans community.

When Will It Happen

April 9th, 2011 from 9AM to 3PM
Continental Break, Lunch, & Snacks will be provided

Where Will It Be?

3400 Tulane Avenue, Suite 1000
New Orleans, LA 70119

How Can I Get Involved?

Parents & Guardians

As stated above, we will only accept a handful of youth for Teen Tech Day.  Our hope is that we can grow the number of attendees every year so that no one gets turned down.  Parents or guardians can fill out our Tech Teen Day application orprint it out and mail it to us before 5:00 PM on March 25th, 2011.  Team members from New Orleans Tech will review each application based on the willingness to attend the conference.

Volunteer

If you wish to volunteer to help us with the event, please contact us and let us know.

Donate!

Help us by contributing just $5 to help NewOrleansTech make Teen Tech Day a success! Your donation will go towards: The conference location, Food for youth and speakers, Educational gift bags for students, Equipment, Liability Insurance, Misc. Items (Nametags, pens, signs). Donate Here

Walter Cohen Charter High School students prepare for college at fair

How do you get to college? For students at Walter Cohen Charter High School, the path leads through Cohen's annual college fair held on campus.

At this year's fair, held Jan. 19 in the school cafeteria, students in their black-and-white Cohen Class of 2011 hoodies collected pamphlets and asked questions as they clustered around representatives from Tulane and Dillard Universities and Nunez and Delgado Community Colleges.

At the Tulane table, senior Dominique Holmes and junior Nicolette Carr talked about their plans for the future. Dominique is looking at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, while Nicolette hopes to join the Air Force to get help paying for college.

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Loyola University New Orleans improves green report card

Loyola University New Orleans’ efforts "to go green" have greatly improved, according to a report by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The institute released its findings this week in the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, in which Loyola was graded an overall score of B-, up from a C- in 2010.

The aim of the report card is to provide accessible information so that schools may learn from each other's experiences, thereby fostering more effective sustainability policies. The report reviews 52 indicators, from green building initiatives to recycling programs to endowment investment policies, and uses an A to F letter-grading system to evaluate performance.

Full Story

New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul gives money to KIPP after-school program

Standing before an audience that included his parents and a gaggle of pennant-waving second-graders on a bright Thursday afternoon, New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul announced a $1 million gift to launch an after-school program at KIPP Central City Primary School.


Paul and Chase Bank each contributed half of the money for the program, which is scheduled to start Monday. Although the award is for three years, Paul said he hopes the program "will be here long after me."

Full Story

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson gives $8 million to Loyola University

Saints owner Tom Benson on Thursday announced an $8 million gift to Loyola University for the construction of a Jesuit Center, to include a major new campus chapel and headquarters for faith and service programs that express the university's Jesuit worldview.

University officials said the Tom Benson Jesuit Center will help achieve the first goal of a recently completed self-study, which called on the university to emphasize its Catholic identity and reinforce itself as a Jesuit institution.

Full Story

Revolutionizing Luchtime At New Orleans Schools

Most kids are used to waiting for pizza and chicken nuggets in the cafeteria line, but one school is changing that. New Orleans College Prep Charter School is feeding students fruits, veggies, and grilled meats. ABC26 News Reporter Vanessa Bolano takes us inside lunch time.

There's no fryer inside this cafeteria. Instead New Orleans College Prep is revolutionizing lunchtime one veggie at a time, and what's most surprising is that students are not complaining.


Full Story

Future chefs help raise money for cooking school

Chayil Johnson was thinking of applying to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts for the music program. After all, the 13-year old plays the saxophone and piano, and NOCCA has turned out such noted musicians as Harry Connick Jr., Trombone Shorty and the Marsalis brothers.

But a three-week culinary camp sponsored by the school this summer put Johnson on a different career path. He decided hot dishes suited him more than cool rhythms.

"I love jazz," Johnson said. "But I just feel I'm more creative in the kitchen."

Music's loss may be the gourmet's gain.

Johnson, along with Victoria Farmer, 14, and Janee Taylor, 17, dreamed up dishes that will appear in all of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants in October.

FULL STORY

Mahalia Jackson learning center offers something for everyone in community

For more than a year before the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood & Family Learning Centeropened its doors in one of New Orleans' toughest neighborhoods, organizers held countless meetings with Central City residents to find out what they wanted in the newfangled community hub.


Most wanted a safer neighborhood, a new school and more access to medical and job-training services.


Today, the four-building, multi-use complex, housed on the campus of the former Mahalia Jackson Elementary School, includes more than a dozen services, including preschool and kindergarten classes, a public library branch, a health clinic, an adult computer lab, a playground, a test kitchen, welfare offices and a community garden.

FULL STORY

Sandra Bullock Praises Warren Easton for Hurricane Recovery

Despite the rain-soaked gray Sunday morning and the somber fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Sandra Bullock managed to get a laugh out of the crowd at Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans. 

Flipping over an hourglass, the Oscar-winning actress joked, "THIS is all the time I have."

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Nola Nerd Nite

If you never thought nerds existed in the City of New Orleans, this
week will prove you wrong. Friday, nerds will take a moment from their labs and
make an appearance at BSI Comics for Nola’s first Nerd Nite. Nerd Nite is an informal gathering of the nerds to drink over presentations of geeky extreme proportions. Nerd Nite was born in Boston by Chris Balakrishnan and spread across the world to places like New York and Munich,Germany; now finally our home New Orleans. Topics have ranged from bio-mechanics of the little known mantis shrimp to tetrominowledge and how four blocks arranged indifferent patterns have changed the world.

 FULL STORY

Check out Nerd Nite Nola Editorial at NewOrleansTech

Learn2Live Back to School & Family Expo Sunday!!

BACK TO SCHOOL EVENT OFFERS FREE HAIRCUTS, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, AND HEALTH SCREENINGS

The Learn2Live Back to School & Family Expo will take place at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center (1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard) on Sunday, August 8, 2010 from 11am to 4pm. The Expo, sponsored by the United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries (UCC) and various local contributors, will feature school supply giveaways, free back-to-school haircuts, and complimentary chair massages for parents. Event planners hope to supply up to 300 New Orleans students with book bags, notebooks, pencils, and other back to school necessities. In addition, local music artists, including R&B favorites Kourtney Heart and Rantz, have signed on to provide entertainment to expo participants and to speak to students about education and active involvement in the arts.

“Our goal is to effectively impact the students and families of New Orleans by supplying them with the tools and information necessary to have a successful school year,” says Krystle Sims, one of the planners of the Learn2Live Back to School & Family Expo. She and partners LaVita Tuff, Nate Cameron, Jr., and LeBraun Robinson are local entrepreneurs, artists, and students who have seen a need present in the New Orleans community and are seeking to fill it. Robinson explains, “In many communities, all parents need is the right information to make healthy choices for their families; we’re bringing all that information to them in a fun, family-friendly way.”

The Learn2Live Back to School & Family Expo will be a fun, family-oriented event that will teach parents and students how to have a more successful, healthier school year.

Orleans Parish Education Network Presents Understanding Governance Summer Serie

As New Orleans nears the end of the timeline
outlined in Act 35, increased attention is being given to the best model
of local control of public schools. The Understanding Governance Summer
Series aims to increase awareness and offer clarity on the various
models local researchers are proposing for public school governance.
Join us in a five week series where we explore the implications of new
governance models on helping shape the future of public schools in New
Orleans.
All researchers will discuss how the models outlined in their reports
address: 1) Accountability for improving student achievement, 2) Equity
in access, and 3) School funding.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 from 6 pm - 8 pm
* BGR and Cowen Institute
* Location: Urban League of Greater New Orleans, 2322 Canal Street

Thursday, July 29, 2010 from 6 pm - 8 pm
* Dr. Torin Sanders, former Orleans Parish School Board President
* Location: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 938 Lafayette
Street

Thursday, August 5, 2010 from 6 pm - 8 pm
* Gulf States RAND Policy Institute
* Location: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 938 Lafayette
Street

Thursday, August 12, 2010 from 6 pm - 8 pm
* Research on Reforms
* Location: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 938 Lafayette
Street

The series is co-sponsored by: Bright Moments, Children's Defense Fund,
Committee for a Better New Orleans, Cowen Institute for Public Education
Initiatives, Greater New Orleans Education Foundation, League of Women
Voters of New Orleans, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, Louisiana
Endowment for the Humanities, Louisiana Public Charter Schools
Association, Louisiana Justice Institute, New Orleans Agenda, Save Our
Schools NOLA, Neighborhood Partnership Network, Greater New Orleans
Chapter of 100 Black Women, Project GRAD, Research on Reforms,
Silverback Society, Total Community Action, and the Urban League of
Greater New Orleans.

OPEN is a collaborative of organizations committed to serving as a
catalyst for broad and diverse community engagement in shaping the
future of public education in New Orleans. OPEN uses community forums,
participatory research and other tools to facilitate community
engagement. In the Fall of 2010, OPEN will launch a citywide community
engagement campaign to build a community vision for the future of public
education. For more information about OPEN or to get involved visit us
at www.orleanspubliceducationnetwork.org
 or contact our office
504-523-9800.

BarCamp NOLA creates: closingthenolagap.org

On July 18, 2010, more than 80 members of New Orleans' tech community gathered with local educators to create Closingthenolagap.org. The techies were participating in the community project portion of BarCamp NOLA 2010, a two-day event of presentations, socializing and learning.

Local organizer Matt Candler expressed a need to create a rallying issue for New Orleans educators and a way for them to network and share ideas. He described the New Orleans achievement gap, pointed to its optimistic trends since 2005, and voiced the goal of closing this gap completely.

FULL STORY

New Orleans student think tank zeroes in on violence, lunches

Conflict resolution programs to end school violence, better quality lunches and oil-free schools by 2015. These recommendations weren't made by education professionals or by Recovery School District Superintendant Paul Vallas, but by a group of 150 middle school students who are members of "Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools," a student think tank that works to improve the city's public schools.


The students, who come from six schools that have Rethinkers clubs, presented their five-year vision to district officials Thursday at Langston Hughes Academy, stressing that they hope to see marked improvement in certain areas by the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Full Story

At the Louisiana Children's Museum, kids learn about construction, urban planning and New Orleans' unique architectural heritage

There's a building boom going on in New Orleans, and the people behind it are not developers, but rather developing young minds.


With kids' summer vacations in full swing, the Louisiana Children's Museum's "Proud to Call It Home" New Orleans architecture and construction exhibit, which opened in September, is getting a full test drive. Aiming to foster a respect for New Orleans' one-of-a-kind built environment and for home building in general, the exhibit offers a primer on architecture, planning and construction for children and adults alike.

Full Story

St. Augustine High School names alumnus, parent and former teacher as new principal

Don Boucree has paced the halls of St. Augustine High School as student, teacher and parent. After Friday, he will walk through them as principal.


School leaders plan to publicly present Boucree in his new position at a 10 a.m. news conference at the 7th Ward campus, the latest in a series of changes for the Catholic boys high school that has fought to find its footing since the 2005 flood. Boucree, who graduated from St. Augustine in 1976, fills the vacancy left by fellow alum the Rev. John J. Raphael, who was named school president in May. That followed the retirement of the Rev. Joseph Doyle.

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Free culinary training available at Delgado and Louisiana Technical College in Metairie

Delgado Community College and Louisiana Technical College will offer free training for careers in culinary arts and the hospitality industry through a federal grant program.


The one-year Community Development Block Grant will pay for certain tuition, books, fees and equipment, college officials said Wednesday. 


Applications are being accepted now through Nov. 30 from qualifying individuals. The program is designed to support and continue to rebuild the culinary and hospitality industries in areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Full Story

KID smART Receives Prestigious Arts Education Award from Americans for the Arts

Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading nonprofit organization advancing the arts in America, has awarded KID smART its prestigious Arts Education Award for 2010. The award is given annually to honor the best in arts education program design and execution and organizational lesdership. KID smART's Executive Director, Echo Olander, accepted the award in Baltimore on June 25th at the Americans for the Arts Half-Century Summit celebrating its 50th anniversary.

In announcing the award, Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, said, "The staff and teaching artists of KID smART know first-hand the ability of the arts to transform schools. Through its innovative and effective programming, KID smART has made an incredible impact on thousands of school children in New Orleans.

From KID smART newsletter. Join The Mailing List.

NASA Holds Workshop for New Orleans Teachers

wenty three New Orleans middle school teachers will get the opportunity next week to strengthen their math and science teaching skills at a NASA-sponsored education workshop.

NASA is sponsoring the workshop as part of its outreach effort to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in the nation's schools. The workshop, "Clouds, Dust and Sunshine: Enhancing Our Understanding of Weather and Climate," will be held June 7 - 9 at the Lusher Charter School in New Orleans. The workshop is being sponsored by NASA's Earth Science program.

Teachers from the Recovery School District and the parishes of St. Charles, St. Tammany, Jefferson and Orleans will take part.

Full Post

Tulane Graduate Excels in Public Service

Kirsten Hill chose to attend Tulane four years ago because she thought it would be a great place to pursue her education and fulfill her commitment to public service at the same time.

"Community service has always been a major part of my life because I grew up in a family that values community service," Hill says. "When I was 4, I was already handing out cookies and donuts at the local nursing home."

FULL  STORY