I’ll personally be accepting donations tomorrow (Saturday, December 12th) from 3 to 6 in Manchester at Toys-R-Us.  I’d love to see you, and make sure you bring an unwrapped toy to drop off (or buy it there).

The Marines tell us that they’re particularly looking for gifts for teens.  For more information, visit:

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

• If you travel with kids, then you can keep them busy with items like portable DVD players, personal gaming consoles (Nintendo DS or Sony PSP) or maybe even their own Flip video camcorder to record their travels and have fun. You can check out kids product section for more about these products. Pick up any of these, which makes kids interesting and enjoy. Fewer bored kids are asking “Are we there yet?”
• There are some ultimate outdoor entertainer such as Wireless speakers for listening on your deck, the backyard BBQ or pool party. Maybe talk about the new iPod touch and how you can drop that into a dock for a virtual party jukebox.
• You can also stay in touch while travelling. While some people use vacations to check out, many love to stay in touch and integrate technology into their routine. You can pick up any of the smart phones, which is loaded with Google Maps and Google satellite images during this summer. This will make real difference and you can find your perfect place to eat and walk right by it without knowing it was even there. You can use wireless Aircard or smartphone or mobile broadband, which can be easily connected to your laptop for checking e-mail.
• Picking the right digital camera is really confusing and has lots of options. Do I want to go waterproof? Do I need to buy extra memory? A very quick-and-dirty on what’s out there now. Shooting waterfalls, climbing mountains, wildlife photos, rivers, like a professional photographer is a real fun. You can buy any of these digital cameras from bestbuy and become a nature photography. Trekking on the mountains with your walkies or mp3 players makes your trekking really amazing and fun. So check out the real digital cameras here at best buy.
• You can reach your destination easily with your GPS. With GPS, you can make any strange town as familiar as the back of your hand. Today’s GPS systems are super easy to use, incredibly accurate and have the potential to save a lot of time and money. And they could help you find that great local restaurant you never knew existed. These handy units will tell you where you are, where you’re going and indicate points of interest along the way – everything from the canyons to the cantinas. Another way to have more fun with Geocaching, a high-tech treasure hunting.
• You can talk about how prices have come down using GPS. And did you know they have a feature to help find cheapest gas prices? The Boston Herald earlier this week on it. Check it out

This one is strictly for fun. I wouldn’t call this breaking news or ‘stop the presses’ by any stretch. But I think of it as one of those great “conversation starters.” I think of this as a modern-day version of “If you could take one thing with you on a deserted island, what would it be?” Hope you guys can use it.

Best Buy routinely does surveys, and in a recent one (see end of this note to show that it’s a real survey with legit methodology) they asked the question:

“If you were going on vacation this summer, which one gadget would you have to bring with you?”

Responses were:

• Cellphone 47 percent
• Digital camera 28 percent
• mp3 player 6 percent
• Blackberry or other smartphone 4 percent
• GPS unit 3 percent
• Portable DVD player 2 percent
• None 10 percent

A couple of interesting things to note: When you break it down by age and gender, mp3 went up some for younger males (not much of a surprise, right?).

• mp3 10 percent
• 50-plus 1 percent
• men 10 percent
• women 3 percent

The findings are the results of a total of 1,000 interviews conducted April 18-21, 2008 as part of GfK Roper’s weekly omnibus. A random digit dialling (RDD) sampling method was used to ensure a nationally representative sample of Americans ages 18+ across regions and demography. The margin of error for the total sample at the 95% confidence level is +/-3 percentage points.

Pat Kerrigan – A biography

Pat Kerrigan is the Customer Experience Manager for the Best Buy in Braintree. He’s been with Best Buy for four-and-a-half years. Pat’s been a tech & gadget junkie since he was a kid, with a special interest in home theatre. Pat notes that he jumped on the TiVo when it first came out in 2000. At the time, the best model could record up to 30 hours of programming; now a TiVo can record more than 180 hours. His passion for consumer electronics is what led him to a career with Best Buy. Pat’s a Boston native born on the South Shore who has followed Boston’s sports teams his whole life. He graduated from Bridgewater State College in 2007 with a degree in communications.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) operates a global portfolio of brands with a commitment to growth and innovation. BestBuy employees strive to provide customers around the world with superior experiences by responding to their unique needs and aspirations. BestBuy sell consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through nearly 1,300 retail stores across the United States, Canada and in China. The multi-channel operations include: Best Buy (BestBuy.com, BestBuy.ca and BestBuy.com.cn), Future Shop (FutureShop.ca), Geek Squad (GeekSquad.com and GeekSquad.ca), Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers (PacificSales.com), Magnolia Audio Video (Magnoliaav.com), Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co. (Five-Star.cn) and Speakeasy (speakeasy.net). Best Buy supports the communities in which its employees work and live through volunteerism and grants that benefit children and education.

There are now Space Camp programs for Children, Adults and even for Corporate events. Children will learn more about space, space shuttle, robotics, mars etc in these camp programs. These programs enhance teamwork, self-confidence and communication and these will be achieved through state-of-the-art simulations, missions, rocket building and robotics.  For scholarship, photo gallery, international camps, and more information about these camps, visit http://www.spacecamp.com/category.php?cat=Space

Participants will have three fields of specialized study (or track options) to choose from: Aviation, Space, and Robotics tracks.

Aviation Track

Kids will learn flight dynamics, wilderness survival, teamwork, and spend time in high-performance jet fighter simulators. They learn all the skills that an American fighter pilots use to rule the skies.

What makes an airplane fly? It’ll teach them the principles of flight, not in the classroom, but standing next to an F-16 or F-14 planes!

Space Track

In addition to a Shuttle Mission, space track campers go through extensive Mars training to prepare for interplanetary travel. They will learn about the planet, its soil, geology, climate and atmosphere. They will also receive crew assignments, and set ready to go!

Settle into your new home – Mars Outpost – Alpha Station. Explore the surface of Mars. Conduct experiments on the soil and rocks collected, as well as keeping everything on board the Mars Outpost running smoothly. Once the mission is complete, it is time to head home to Earth.

Robotics Track

Kids will learn how to rescue astronauts from the International Space Station! 10 hours of designing and programming a robot using LEGO Mindstorm software and materials.

Kids form team of four to five and create the ultimate robotic rover, using an unlimited array of gears, pulleys, sensors, and other parts. Then they program the robot to perform tasks at the ISS using the latest computer software. They test their creations and compete with other groups to save stranded astronauts and deliver supplies to the space station.

There are 10 space programs to choose depending on your age. All the below mentioned programs follow the above three tracks.

Space Camp program duration is 3 – 6 days. It uses space to excite and educate children ages 9-11 in the fields of math, science and technology. In space camp, everything you will learn about Space Shuttle Systems and life aboard the Orbiter and Space Station. Kids can try out space food, learn to sleep in space and even how to go to the bathroom in space! To know more about the program, click here.

Space Academy is an increased intensity program of astronaut and mission training and academics. Simulated missions to a space station and crew rotation highlight the week. Trainees who want to be Astronauts must learn to think like astronauts and our Space Academy Programs are designed to do just that! This program is kids aged 12 – 14 and length of this program is 6-day and 8-day. Trainees will participate in Shuttle Missions, Space Simulators, build & launch rockets and sample space food. To know more about the program, click here. Participants will go through Team-Building skills, Space Simulators Training and Space Shuttle Mission Training activities which are part of this program.

Advanced Space Academy is for ages 15 – 18 and offers programs for 6-day and 8-day. During this week-long program, trainees get hands-on training, as well as learn about the mental, emotional and physical demands astronauts must face. Fields of study include Engineering, Space Technology and Aerospace Science. The Advanced Space Academy program is a college-accredited program through the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH). All Advanced Space Academy participants will earn one hour of Freshman-level general science credit from UAH. For details on activities and tracks, click here. Choose your path of study from one of the racks listed below.

• Pilot Track Trainees will take command of an orbiter on its mission to the International Space Station. A pilot will follow the checklist procedures of a mission and be required to make emergency decisions while monitoring and commanding the crew.
• Pilot SCUBA Track Trainees will continue to command or pilot an orbiter and learn Aerospace Science as their core basis for training, but instead of flying the Flight Simulators at Aviation Challenge, they will SCUBA dive in the UAT SCUBA tank.
• Mission Specialist Track Trainees will be instructed in the engineering and design of the shuttle and space station. Repairs to either will be conducted in the UAT SCUBA Tank creating and accurate environment for the space walk.

Parent / Child program is designed to give both of you an overview of space exploration, while experience very real space simulations. Parent Child Space Camp is a weekend for just the two of you, providing the opportunity to become partners in learning. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and lift off! Watch the rocket that you and your child built together soar. Share the pride that your child will feel while manoeuvring the orbiter through space. What better way to build a lasting relationship than through Parent Child Space Camp?

Get ready for a weekend of non-stop activities. Together, you and your child will explore the history – present and future – of space flight. You will also experience the excitement of being there while watching an IMAX movie! See Shuttle astronauts perform missions in space, ride along as Aviators throttle up, or explore the surface of mars.

Participants also get a packet of exciting activities to explore scientific concepts at home. Click here for details on Parent/Child Program activities.

Adult Programs will put your skills, abilities and talents to the test in training simulators and simulated missions. Experience four G’s of force when you blast off 140 feet on SPACE SHOT. Feel what it’s like to walk on the moon in the 1/6th Gravity Trainer, then experience a simulated tumble in space in the Multi-Axis Trainer. You’ll also alternate roles in mission control and shuttle crew during two different Space Shuttle missions.

Witness space exploration almost firsthand in a giant-screen IMAX Spacedome theater presentation. You will also spend time in our world class Space Museum containing America’s largest collection of space artifacts.

Special Programs are for blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing, these programs offer all the excitement of Space Camp & Aviation Challenge.

The Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs specifically designed for blind, visually-impaired, deaf and/or hard-of-hearing attendees have attracted students from across the United States and around the world.

Over the years, we have worked closely with several organizations, including the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, and most recently, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, to develop a meaningful, inspirational experience for these students.

Program highlights may include a presentation by blind and/or deaf NASA professionals on career choices and working in the space industry. Enlarged print, sign language interpreters, attention to mobility hazards and other special considerations are extended to put trainees at ease.

Blind students also benefit from the latest technology in the field, including tactile Braille displays and synthetic speech for computers.

Day Camps offer exciting opportunities for learning, friendship and adventure. It has split into two groups, 7-8 year old and 9-11 year olds. You can choose from any of the three programs – Expedition camp, Space Camp and Aviation Challenge sessions. For more details about this day camps, click here

Educator program offer professional development opportunities for both formal and informal educators, as well as a variety of programs for students.

Corporate program take corporate development training and incentive programs to a whole new level… letting you jump into a flight suit and take on the role of an astronaut or fighter pilot!

For scholarship, photo gallery, international camps, and more information about these camps, visit http://www.spacecamp.com/category.php?cat=Space

Imagine a college campus where students and professors discuss theories after class, deaf and hearing students play on the same sports teams, and international students share information about their cultures over lunch. This is the atmosphere you’ll find at RIT/NTID.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the world’s first and largest technological college for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. It’s one of eight colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a privately endowed, coeducational university that is student-centered and career-focused.

RIT/NTID is located in a beautiful and safe suburban setting in Rochester–New York State’s third-largest city. The area offers a variety of parks, shopping areas, beaches, restaurants, and museums. Rochester has one of the largest populations of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United States.

RIT was founded in 1829, and NTID was formally established by an act of Congress in 1965 to provide technical secondary education to deaf and hard-of-hearing students, a need that was not readily met elsewhere. This education enables deaf and hard-of-hearing students to get jobs in technical fields – something previously unavailable for most students.

In 1966, RIT was chosen from among four competing universities as the host university for NTID. NTID is celebrating its 40th year this year of its first class in 1968. Since then, more than 6,100 students have graduated.

Currently, more than 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students study, share residence halls, and enjoy social life together with 14,000 hearing students.

RIT/NTID offers students access to more than 200 programs in the colleges of Applied Science and Technology, Business, Computing and Information Sciences, Engineering, Imaging Arts and Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Science. The university regularly creates new programs and evaluates and modifies existing ones to meet the needs of the changing global marketplace. Each student’s goals and abilities are matched to a course of instruction that will prepare him or her for a rewarding career.

The U.S. News and World Reports list of Best Colleges of 2003 ranks RIT #7 on the list of colleges in the northern U.S. offering master’s degrees.

You’ll find that RIT/NTID is a culturally diverse school, with students from all 50 states and more than 80 foreign countries. The campus community includes a broad mix of students with various skills in American Sign Language, English, and spoken communication. You won’t find another college like this in the world!

Upon completion of their associate’s degree, hundreds of NTID students enroll in RIT classes with hearing peers. Accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing students is excellent, including interpreters, notetakers, FM loop systems, TTY pay phones, tutors, American Sign Language classes, and many faculty and staff members who use sign language. More than 120 interpreters work at NTID. Last year, RIT provided more than 44,000 hours of notetaking services and 90,000 hours of interpreting services for students.

RIT/NTID offers you state-of-the-art technology, such as “smart” classrooms with high-tech workstations and Internet access. Each college is equipped with PC and Mac computer labs, and there are several electrical, chemical, printing, and engineering laboratories on campus.

Students can join any of more than 100 clubs on campus related to hobbies, politics, sports, and cultural diversity as well as student government and Greek organizations. There also are many work and volunteer opportunities for you on campus.

There are dozens of men’s and women’s varsity, intramural, and club sports for students to join. And, you’ll enjoy the state-of-the-art sports facilities, including weight rooms, indoor and outdoor tracks, pools, ice rink, and tennis courts.

RIT/NTID alumni have jobs in every region of the country and all around the world. Over the past five years, 94 percent of deaf graduates who chose to enter the labor market obtained jobs in business, industry, government, education, and other fields.

RIT’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships assists students and their families in identifying sources of financial aid to help meet the cost of a quality education.

NTID offers several summer camp experiences for middle and high school children with hearing loss. Among those are TechGirlz (for young girls interested in exploring technical careers). TechGirlz is a weeklong camp for girls with hearing loss entering 7th, 8th, or 9th grade who are interested in science, technology, engineering and math. Steps To Success (designed to encourage children from underserved populations interest in technical careers). Hundreds of high school students annually attend our “Explore Your Future” camps where they can experience college life, stay in the dorms and get a taste of possible majors and career options available. Some students will build computers from scratch to take home.

Dr. Gerald Buckley
Assistant Vice President for College Advancement
NTID

Dr. Gerald Buckley – A biography

Dr. Gerald Buckley currently serves as Assistant Vice President for College Advancement at NTID. He is responsible for providing leadership to the Admissions, Placement, Marketing Communications, Outreach, and Development functions for the institute. He has completed educational degrees at Rochester Institute of Technology, The University of Missouri -Columbia, and the University of Kansas. He has served as the President of the Board of ADARA and currently serves as President of the Lexington School for the Deaf Board of Trustees in New York City. He has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for the College for NTID (1985) and the College of Liberal Arts (1996). He has served on the National Advisory Board of the National Institute of Health’s Institute on Deafness at the recommendation of Senator Robert Dole (Retired – R). Gerry is married to Judy and has three children.

The Austin Film Festival summer camp started 15 years ago and has drawn thousands of participants who write and review screenplays and direct, produce and star in their films. Each camp provides a summer fantasy for around 200 children who get to perfect their various film-making interests.

The purpose is to present the concept of communication (of an idea or a message) to students in a way that enables them to connect with the media which they consume on a daily basis. Ideally, this will help to make them better communicators and more critical consumers of media. They learn script writing, craft story telling, marketing, communication, understanding audience and produce films.

The program offers in two modes. Children aged 9 – 12 will learn the entire process of conceptualization of story for a short film to finished piece and marketing. Students produce their shorts using digital video cameras with digital non-linear editing systems. Children get the opportunity to work in these technology areas, which is not a normal industry practice.

The second mode is for children aged 13 – 17. In this program, they will learn scripting, comedy shows, video class and make a film. Additionally, one of the inherent aspects of the film process which they learn is collaboration, as the medium. Parents are more excited than their children.

The skills learned both from the equipment and from the process of filmmaking can be applied to future careers in not only film-making, but other media like advertising and consumer communication fields. Though many enrolled students are inherently interested in the artistic applications of camp, the technology opens up other significant opportunities after college. Many of the past campers are now enrolled in film schools throughout the US.

Since the late 90’s, the film industry has been in the process of shifting to digital technologies in all aspects of film production. Not only is film being shot in a digital format, but the editing, sound, special effects and finally projection have all moved out of the real world and onto the computer. Technology can make film making easier now a days that anyone can buy a digital camera and make film. Apple comes with its own software which can literally edit and make films.

New digital technologies allow innovative and original voices to be seen and heard because technology has knocked down many of the roadblocks which the entertainment industry constructed with the original studio system. These digital technologies have allowed even the youngest filmmakers to produce work of a quality which would rank with some professionals (HD camera/final cut editing system).

Children are very excited when they are behind the camera. Here is what they say after the program:

“I’ve learned so much at the Austin Film Festival camp that it’s inspired me to go on and create my own movies outside and put my hands on every project I can,” said Elizabeth Breazile, a former film student.

In addition to this Camp, the Austin Film Festival runs a program in two Austin public High Schools in co-operation with the school district. The unique program teaches screenwriting in the underserved school’s English classes. Through a technology grant from AT&T, we were able to expand the program to include production of the screenplays which the students write. This opened up the opportunity for students who would not normally have the opportunity to even consider a media career to also learn practical, applicable tech skills which can be applied in a variety of careers. The student’s inherent interest in media opens up the door for them to realize many other opportunities.

For more details and other information, visit here http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/summer_camp
For registration, click here http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/files/2008_AFF_Summer_Camp_Registration_Form_3.pdf

Barbara Morgan
Executive Director, Austin Film Festival

Barbara Morgan – A biography

Barbara Morgan co-founded the Austin Film Festival (AFF) in 1994 after a series of successful ventures in the music industry. In addition to running her own financing business for national broadcasters since 1988, Morgan managed musicians during Austin On the Road, a nation-wide tour of Austin singer/songwriters, which included Michael Fracasso, David Halley, Jimmy LaFave and Jo Carol Pierce; and also co-produced records with musicians such as Michael Fracasso and Charlie Sexton as an extension of her managerial career as well.

Since 1999, Morgan has served as the executive director of the AFF, the first festival to celebrate and recognize the screenwriter as the heart of the creative process of film making. In its fourteen-year history, the Festival has expanded to include a four-day screenwriter’s conference, eight-day film program, screenplay and teleplay contests and a film competition. In 2006, the AFF drew more than 2,500 registrants from around the world and sold more than 25,000 movie tickets. The AFF is one of the few U.S. festivals to be officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its jury winning films.

Regarded as one of the top three script contests in the world, the AFF’s screenplay competition initiated the process of combining talented, undiscovered writers with production companies. In its first year, the AFF introduced screenplay winner Max Adams to then head of production at Columbia Pictures, Barry Josephson. The result of their meeting was the production of Adams’ script, Excess Baggage. The industry attention created by the sale of Adams’ script not only propelled the AFF to greater notoriety, but also encouraged Morgan to develop and produce a film from a screenplay competition submission. The film was 1996’s semifinalist Natural Selection, whose writers, B.J. Burrow and Allen Odom, had already signed a contract with Gotham Entertainment based on their Festival success. The finished film, which stars David Carradine (Kung Fu), Michael Bowen (Jackie Brown), Darren Burrows (Northern Exposure), Stephen Root (News Radio) and Bob Balaban (Waiting for Guffman), was completed in early 2000; has been aired on Showtime and the Sci-fi channel; is in DVD distribution and has been released internationally. In 2005, Morgan co-produced the feature documentary Antones: Home of the Blues, which was released internationally and is available on DVD; and in 2007 Morgan produced the locally made documentary, Teaching Austin: 150 Years of Public Education.

Morgan’s most recent project has been the expansion of the AFF’s Young Filmmaker Program. The program, which began with the Festival’s 1994 inception, sprang from Morgan’s volunteer work at Brackenridge Children’s Hospital, and provides local youth the opportunity to make films through the AFF Summer Camp in partnership with the University of Texas RTF department and hosts hundreds of students every summer. The program also provides scholarships to high school students enabling them to attend October’s festival at no cost and the chance to meet their screenwriting and filmmaking heroes. Recently, Morgan produced a video with the Texas Education Agency to promote a new screenwriting competition aimed at schoolchildren. The competition seeks to encourage the creativity and communication skills of participating children, by providing them with the tools necessary to improve their work in school and increase their chances of success as they enter the workforce. As a result, the Story Telling Through Film program has been implemented at three Austin High Schools and every year reaches about 500 students.

About Austin Film Festival:

The Austin Film Festival’s Film Camp will be hosted this summer at McCallum H.S. in Austin, Texas. McCallum, home to one of the leading Fine Arts Academies in the U.S., houses an impressive filmmaking lab with new Apple computers and a film studio for shooting, making the camp one of the most popular technology-oriented summer classes in the area.

In its 6th year, this affordable camp is designed to keep kids engaged in the arts by working on creative projects with qualified counselors who have experience in media-related fields. Camp gives kids interested in film an opportunity to learn from filmmakers, film students, and even film professors from UT, an experience otherwise hard to come by.

Campers can choose special-interest classes depending on their age, including Claymation, script-to-screen, funny shorts, special effects and even music video production for older campers.

The Claymation series involves using three-dimensional media and live-action, stop motion animation to make inanimate characters come to life in short films. The script-to-screen, special effects and music video courses combine the technological aspects of lighting, sound, editing and camera operation to teach young students the ins and outs of filmmaking. Students have the ability to actually produce films and receive a copy of their work on DVD at the end of the camp.

The Austin Young Filmmakers Camp takes place June 9 – August 8. Both one week and two week sessions are available for the classes, which are several hours a day on Mondays-Fridays

As an aside, the AFF Film Camp has many success stories, but the most recent involves local student Bryanne Cooke who has attended multiple camp sessions and just recently earned a full-tuition 4-year scholarship to USC’s cinema program. She credits AFF Film Camp for shaping her interest and skills.

4H is now a growing community of more than 6.5 million young people across America who learns leadership, citizenship and life skills to uplift the country. National 4-H Council is the national, private sector, non-profit partner of the 4-H Youth Development Program and its parent, the Cooperative Extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture.

4-H prepare America’s youth by encouraging exploration, discovery and ignite passion for science, engineering, and technology through accessible, hands-on out-of-school programming. 4-H does these things by mapping DNAs, solving problem and instigate possibility thinking in kids. It uses science to solve community problems and giving an opportunity to work in cutting-edge technologies. 4-H takes youths to labs, research organization and involve them in some real projects so they become interested and create project on their own.

To develop these youths, 4-H partners with several science or engineering-based corporations and universities to develop camps. Through this 4-H foster an early interest in the sciences with the hope that youth will be interested in and pursue technical careers in the future. The corporations commit to the work of 4-H as part of ensuring a pipeline of qualified workers for the future.

4-H offers 400 residential camps that foster interest in the sciences. 4-H’s educational programs in science, engineering, and technology have an unparalleled reach of more than 5 million youth in all 50 states. It has a longstanding history as a leader in youth education and has partnerships with 106 Land Grant Universities and the university-based curriculum.

According to Rising Above Gathering Storm, 2006, only 5% of college graduates in America are leaving college with degrees in science, engineering or technology compared to 66% in Japan, 59% in China and 36% in Germany.

4-H is playing a vital role in positive youth development by aligning the interests and talents of today’s youth with current technologies, resources, and communal offerings and by showing that scientific studies can be part of the social and academic norm.

A recent study (Tufts University Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development) shows that participants in 4-H are more likely to obtain higher school grades, enroll in college, and contribute to society. When compared to children who participate in non 4-H related out-of-school activities (sports, Scouting, etc), 6th graders currently participating in 4-H clubs and after-school programs are 1.6 times more likely to enroll in college.

Children who had participated in 4-H for at least one year by 8th grade are about 3.5 more likely to contribute to their families, self, and communities. They are also 1.3 times more likely to be on the lowest trajectories for both depressive symptoms and or risk/delinquent behaviors.

4-H stresses on “learning by doing”. It believes that by doing something students learn faster than reading.

Some of the 4-H science and tech camps, where students really learn by doing.

• The ExxonMobil Foundation and The Harris Foundation funded a summer science camp with the 4-H extension program at Oregon State University where 6th and 8th graders learn about Lego robotics, ecology, and Web 2.0 tools. As a result, 80% of campers reported an increased interest in science as a result of attending; 55% planned a career in science.
• Intel has invested nearly half a million dollars in the 4-H Tech Wizards program in Washington County, Oregon. The program charges kids with using state of the art technology, like handheld GPS/GIS devices to complete community projects including street tree inventory and mapping the safest walking routes to local schools. Intel employs 16 thousand people in that area.
• Utah State University and Utah 4-H teamed up to create 4-H Aggie Adventures for Kids, a program offering educational day-camps that explore archeology, solar energy, GPS technology, robotics, chemistry and physics.
• 4-H held an invitational day camp for both individuals and groups at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participants were immersed in hands-on training for a space shuttle mission and explored the history and future of a manned space flight.

You can also volunteer 4-H by clicking here http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/find4h.aspx

Dr. Cathann Kress
Director of Youth Development National 4-H Headquarters at the US Dept. of Agriculture

Dr. Cathann Kress – A biography

Dr. Cathann Kress Ph.D, Director of Youth Development, National 4-H Headquarters at the US Dept. of Agriculture. She provides national leadership for youth development issues within the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and provides program leadership for youth development programs administered through the Cooperative Extension System and Land Grant Universities, including 4-H, USDA-Military Partnerships, Rural Youth Opportunity Programs and Children, Youth and Families at-Risk (CYFAR).

Dr. Kress provides national leadership for youth development research, education and program implementation, which includes providing information, resources, and support related to current and relevant youth issues; oversight for training for youth-serving professionals; support for the development of curriculum and materials related to current youth issues and administration of grants programs, including Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR).

These programs reach more than 7 million youth (ages 5-22) annually, with the assistance of over 640,000 adult volunteers. Dr. Kress directly supervises 16 staff and works collaboratively with about 3,000 land grant university faculty and staff leading 4-H at the state and county level, and with over 60 affiliated private foundations and organizations. Federal support for these programs is approximately $80 million annually, which leverages additional state and local public dollars and substantial grants and other private funding.

Dr. Kress joined CSREES in October 2002, after serving as Assistant Director for Cornell Cooperative Extension and State 4-H Leader in New York. Dr. Kress also served as State Youth Development Specialist for Iowa State University Extension, primarily serving as a violence prevention consultant for schools and began her Extension career as a 4-H Youth Development Educator in Benton and Tama counties in Iowa.

Dr. Kress co-authored the book, Key Resources on Student Services as well as the annual guides, Understanding the Iowa Youth Survey Data: A Practical Guide for Schools and Communities. Prior experience includes teacher training and education for gifted students.

Dr. Kress lives in Southern Maryland with her husband and three children.

The camp runs weekdays July 7 through August 22, 2008. Each program runs for one week. Campers must be entering grades 4-9 in the fall of 2008 to attend. The cost per program varies depending on your choice. The camps have been divided into three pograms – Junior, Senior and Advanced programs.

Harbor Discoveries Junior Camps are for children entering 4th and 5th grade in the fall of 2008. Group size is 16, and there is at least a 1:4 staff to camper ratio for this day camp. For more information on fees, timings, registration, activities, requirement, etc click here.

Harbor Discoveries senior camps are for children entering 6th and 7th grade in the fall of 2008. Group size is 16,with at least a 1:4 staff to camper ratio for this day camp. For more information on fees, timings, registration, activities, requirement, etc click here.

Harbor Discoveries advanced camps are for children entering 8th and 9th grade in the fall of 2008. Group sizes range from 9 to 20 depending on the session and activity. One-week programs are comprised of a day camp with a Thursday night overnight camping trip. For more information on fees, timings, registration, activities, requirement, etc click here.

Harbor Discoveries instructors are First Aid, CPR and Lifeguard certified. Limited need-based scholarships are sometimes available through the Education Department for City of Boston, Somerville and Chelsea residents.

About Harbor Discoveries:

Harbor Discoveries is the first camp program to make extensive use of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area as a living laboratory for aquatic science education and environmental stewardship.

The combination of science and traditional camp activities provides a unique opportunity. The program fosters appreciation of the importance of habitats for all life, and helps prepare campers to become advocates for the planet. Harbor Discoveries seeks to meet the need for out-of-school opportunities by providing meaningful summer programs that stimulate the mind while nurturing personal growth and development.

A self-made millionaire and father of seven, Troy Dunn gives you practical templates for easy, kid-friendly businesses that you can introduce to your children so that they can start earning their own money quickly.

Young Buck$ includes everything Dunn has learned during his very successful business career as an entrepreneur and in his work with thousands of young people seeking business guidance. It features chapters on age-appropriate, step-by-step action plans for you to help your children find and implement great money-making ideas. Additional chapters explain what schemes you should avoid, how to spot business scams, why lotteries are a terrible place to put your money, why it’s good for kids to invest in the stock market, and practical advice on the legal aspects of owning a business.

His latest project is called Troy The Locator, was designed by Troy Dunn for the purpose of continuing his mission of “reuniting half the world with the other half”. and it will air on Women’s Entertainment Television. Interested in finding someone who you have lost contact with — they are still looking for 6 more contestants.

In 1990, Troy helped his own mother (who was adopted as a baby) locate her own biological family. That single event caused Troy and his then-partner to build an organization that did one thing- help people reunite with long lost friends and family members.

In the past 16 years, Troy and his team have assisted thousands of people worldwide in doing just that. In fact, it is estimated that over 300 million people have personally witnessed one of Troy’s reunions on national TV. Troy has personally appeared (many times) on virtually every network morning show and syndicated talk show in the U.S. plus TV guest appearances on shows on the BBC in the U.K.

Those appearances have earned him the respect of media notables from Barbara Walters to John Walsh and have brought him an unexpected level of public recognition that actually makes it more difficult to “surprise” someone with a dream reunion- because they know instantly why he is there!

TroyTheLocator.com was launched to help more people than ever in their pursuit of a long lost friend and family member. The Instant People Locator is the brain child of Troy and was created using one of the most in-depth and accurate data files available anywhere. Unlike other online people finder searches, Troy’s Instant People Locator does NOT rely on worthless white pages for its data but instead combines thousands of somewhat obscure record files into one massive data pool, which he then makes available to the public for more accurate Locate results.

Additionally, while his constant TV work now keeps him from maintaining his private investigator license, he has contracted with a select group of his personal favorite investigators from all over the country to do the Pro Locates for visitors to TroyTheLocator.com. These investigators have either been personally trained by Troy or have previously worked for Troy in a locating capacity.

ABOUT TROY

Troy Dunn is a self-made millionaire. He is a successful businessman and public speaker, radio host, and writer on the subject of financial success and personal happiness. For his business venture dedicated to reuniting separated friends and family, Troy was considered for more than a decade one of the most frequently seen guest experts on national television. After thirteen years of building and running that company, Troy sold it for undisclosed millions, freeing him to focus on his passion for assisting other organizations. He now consults four corporate clients a year in motivating their own management teams in leadership, overcoming obstacles, team-building, and guerrilla marketing and in major media manipulation, strategy, and results. Troy married his high-school sweetheart, Jennifer, and together they are raising seven beautiful children.

Troy Dunn is no doubt familiar to you from his 14 years of national television appearances as “the reunion guy” on virtually every talk show on TV. He has made numerous guest appearances on Good Morning America, Regis & Kelly, 48 Hours, Sixty Minutes, and has even been interviewed by Barbara Walters! He is also the host of the new NBC reality show, “Extreme Reunion” where he will be making people’s dreams come true! (Watch your local listings)

For the past four years, Troy has been the host of the syndicated talk radio show, “The DunnDeal Show”, heard from coast to coast in 81 cities and Canada. He is retiring from radio to focus on his new television show but still makes over 30 guest radio appearances every month!

In 1992, Troy and his partner self published their first book, The Locator, which drove revenue in excess of $10 million dollars over the next 8 years! Subsequently, this success lead to publishing deals for Troy with two of the largest publishers in the U.S., Bantam-Doubleday and Berkley-Putnam. In the Spring of 2004 Troy is releasing his latest book which is geared towards parenting success.

Due to his very busy schedule, Troy is able to accept only a small portion of the speaking invitations sent him each week, and chooses his engagements not based on fees, but on the quality of the audience and organization inviting him. He has been the keynote speaker at major corporations such as the SONY EXECUTIVE RETREAT as well as PIZZA HUT CORP, has been the Closing Keynote for the YEO World Conference (where all members must own a business with gross revenue of at leat 1 million dollars) and has even done informative break-out sessions for organizations such as American Mothers Association. From audiences as large as 10,000 to groups as small as 200, Troy loves to be around great people and selects his engagements based on that criteria.

As a personal diversion from corporate America and an escape from the studio lights of television, Troy does a few stand up comedy show each year to sell-out crowds in target U.S. cities. His show, “The Family Comedy Tour”, is 100% pure clean comedy that is geared right for the heart of the american family. Old or young, married or single, with or without kids, Troy’s 75 minute stand-up routine will leave you howling in tears of laughter as he transports you back to your own childhood and sometimes into your own home! He really downplays his comedy talents and has turned down invitations to make a full-time career out of it, but if you can convince him to come to your area and perform his show, you will be a hero to your audience! (Some groups have actually used Troy’s comedy show as a fund raiser by selling the show tickets and merchandise, such as t-shirts, autographed photos, etc..)

The unintended messages that multi-taskers emit to others that they interact with and the various implications of multi-tasking on life balance.

The impact that multi-tasking has on the quality of communications within the workplace, family and society at large.

The steps that can we take to neutralize the negative impacts of multi-tasking in our lives

Articles by Francie Dalton:

Surviving the seven classic workplace behaviors.: An article from: Rural Telecommunications

Hire when ready: adding a COO means transition time for you and your direct reports.(chief operating officer): An article

Coaching your CEO toward improved delegation: a step-by-step approach to bettering your business.: An article from: Alaska Business Monthly from: Association Management

Bio:

Francie Dalton is the Founder and President of Dalton Alliances, Inc., a premier business consulting firm providing a full range of consulting services in the communication, management, and behavioral sciences. Francie facilitates the implementation of diagnostic employee/management assessments and accountability measures. In addition, as a highly successful female entrepreneur, she has made the success of women in business an area of personal focus.

Francie Dalton specializes in all facets of the communication, management and behavioral sciences. She runs her own consulting practice providing executive coaching to C-level clients, writes a monthly column on Leadership for the Washington Business Journal, teaches business management to PhD candidates at the University of Maryland, and maintains a client list that includes Fortune 100 firms. Quoted in Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, “O”, The Oprah Magazine, Chief Executive Magazine, Selling Power, and the Harvard Management Update, Francie has also appeared on CNN/FN and has written more than 20 articles that have been published in the trade press.”