[bworks_shop] great opportunity for BWorks kids

[Theresa Kehoe]

When Bill Hartnett's employer let Eduardo and I attend their IT event,
we got to see some of Toshiba's newly emerging technologies (VERY fun!).
Toshiba's salesman, Mike Buzzard, will be working with Computer St.
Louis, to come up with a reduced price for lower-end laptops -- the ones
we want to purchase with some of the KEW Memorial Fund monies.

I also took some time to speak with their Senior Marketing Support
Engineer, Billy Abbott.  He was amenable to making arrangements to be a
speaker at one of our kids' classes, to demonstrate some of these new
technologies.  I thought it would be fun and meaningful for the kids, to
meet a professional in the field, and also to see, for example, how
tablet PCs allow you to "write" directly onto the screen.

He had another potentially very important tip for our organization.
Toshiba sponsors an annual awards program, ExploraVision [1].

"In ExploraVision, students choose a current technology and imagine what
it could be like in 20 years. Student teams work with teachers and
mentors to develop their ideas. The program has become a regular part of
the science curriculum in many schools across North America, helping
science teachers provide their students with a challenging and fun
educational experience.

"ExploraVision prizes include: 

      * First Prize (4 teams): U.S. EE Savings Bond worth $10,000* at
        maturity for each student.
      * Second Prize (4 teams): U.S. EE Savings Bond worth $5,000* at
        maturity for each student. 
      * Regional Prize (24 teams): A Toshiba notebook computer for each
        regional winning school, and a special gift for each student,
        teacher and mentor.
      * Honorable Mention Recognition

Every student team member who enters the competition with a complete
entry will receive a certificate of participation and a small gift.
Student entry certificates and gifts will be sent to the coach for
distribution. Coaches are encouraged to submit all completed
ExploraVision projects so that every student can be recognized for his
or her effort. "

He also gave me a tip -- when the judges review these projects, they are
more than anything else, looking for one thing:  how the technology will
IMPACT our future.

>From the web site, it looks like entries for the next competition
should
be submitted prior to January 2010, so we have some time to consider
this.

I think it could be a fantastic opportunity, especially for some of the
mentorship kids.

Theresa


[1] http://www.exploravision.org/