• Stop Light Method / Analyzing the Surrounding and Making Decisions
• Migrating Bird Method / Cooperation
• Mirrors Method / Self Awareness
• Detective Method / Problem Solving
• Mind Lab Olympics t-shirt Preparation Day
• Mind Lab Olympics Borough Competition  & Award Given Ceremony

Summer Programs

FUTUREKIDS PATHWAY TO COLLEGE

1. Pathway To College First Courses – “THE MOGULS”

• Students developed their own business in simulated roles of entrepreneurs. As businessman /businesswomen, they learned keyboarding, spreadsheets, database, desktop publishing, word processing and the presentation skills involved in establishing a business. In addition, they acquired skills involved in establishing a business.
  Projects included:

• Creating business cards, and a unique logo for their business
• Making corporate stationary
• Publishing a catalog and advertisements
• Assessing start up business and project profits
• Developing a personal and clients databases
• Publishing a commercial web site
• Generating a television advertisement
• Formatting a business letter and a memorandum

The Final project was to present their business portfolio to the class.

2. Pathway To College Second Courses – “THE MUSIC FESTIVAL”

• Preparing For The Festival

Students were in charge of organizing a music festival with artists of their choosing and gained valuable experience in the use of word processing and layout software. In addition to finding information on the musicians, the Internet will play an important part in the students' work: they will learn to manage an e-mail account for their correspondence and publishing information about the festival on the Web.

• The Festival

The Festival is now in full swing. Students deal with various management problems, balancing their budget, managing stands and their various exhibitors. They also compile databases and learn to extract information and statistics from them.

• After The Festival

The festival is over. The students compile a multimedia file relating to the event. They film themselves reporting on the event. They rework images to be adapted to various media, and create animations to be included in their presentation and on the festival's Web page.

In addition to the valuable technology skills gained during this camp, students will also identify their own personal strengths, as well as identify some of the life skills necessary to survive in the industry using Relate for Teens. They will also learn how to prepare themselves for the opportunity thru a colleg

3. Pathway To College Third Courses – "THE APPRENTICE"

• Get ready for the real world. 

You can avoid hearing those dreaded words…."You’re Fired" by preparing yourself now!  Participants in this program will become a part of a Business Group and play all the roles. You’ll even get insider tips on some of the more important personal and academic skills needed using Relate For Teens and a College prep mini workshop. Learn how to take a new business to the level of success to which we all aspire.

• Students will learn the roles of:
• Publisher – Microsoft Publisher
• An Executive Assistant – Word Processing
• An Account Manager/CEO/CFO - EXCEL
• A Web Page Developer – Front Page
• A Graphic Designer – Photo Shop

Eliminate the obstacles… Be prepared to achieve the levels of success you are capable of attaining. 

Other Summer Programs

AGES (14-16)
The “Mission Impossible” curriculum consisted of five different units: LOG ON (Desktop Publishing), WORLD WILDLIFE (Databases), WORLD’S FAIR (Wordprocessing & Graphics), WORLD CURRENCY (Spreadsheets), and TIME CAPSULE (Multimedia).

AGES (17-19) LEHMAN COLLEGE
The “SENIOR ENTREPRENEURS” curriculum consisted of five different units: Wordprocessing & Graphics; Operating Systems & Desktop Publishing; Spreadsheets; Multimedia PowerPoint Presentation; and Web Page Design.

AGES (18-21)
The curriculum consisted of Operating System, Microsoft Office Overview, Internet Research and Web Page Design.

WEB PAGE DESIGN CURRICULUM
Does your school need to hire someone to update their Web site? Maybe you just want to showcase your latest hobby or supplement a school project. Imagine building an entire Web site around your favorite musician, the latest fashions, or your group of friends, using the latest programs in animation and sound.  You'll also learn professional web design techniques from image maps, slicing, rollovers, to many more. You'll create your own homepage interface, custom graphics and backgrounds as well as animated GIFs - this is too cool!

ICE CREAM TRUCK CURRICULUM
Get ‘two scoops’ of math learning fun, when you take on the role of a busy ice cream truck owner! You get to decide what ice cream flavors you want to sell, promote sale items as you decorate your truck to attract customers, decide where to sell your ice cream serve the customers and total your profit.

The FUTUREKIDS program that was offered, Technology Essentials, is one that is customized for the Housing Residents with an aptly focused career to work purpose.  All units/modules incorporated a multitude of learning objectives which were targeted to provide the following service needs: post secondary education support, GED/literacy learning, computer course work on resident needed levels goal setting and vocational/job training.  Projects and explorations within the modules were designed to teach students critical skills in 5 technology areas.  This TEACH version of Technology Essentials is completely aligned  to New York State standards based curriculum in Language Arts,  Social Studies and MST-mathematics, science and technology standards.  It addresses career and SCANS standards as well.

Further, the FUTUREKIDS Educational team worked to develop customized units, with project-based learning that featured job-related scenarios which resonated in participant resident local realities.  The underlying curriculum was an assumption of one student per computer. The curriculum was developed for use in Community Learning Centers, as a year-round curriculum for Young Adult High School learners, as well as adults.

While the program elements were designed in a modular format with a suggested number of lessons, the progression through these module and lessons varied by individual student, as is appropriate for such a differentiated curriculum.  The curriculum introduced novice computer users, as well as intermediate to advanced levels to skills in 6 primary technology areas:  Computer Basics & Operating Systems, Keyboarding, Word Processing, Web Page Design, Spreadsheets, and Multimedia (MS PowerPoint).

In addition, students used specialized software by Ripple Effects, Relate for Teens, individualized, computer-based instruction to increase the rate of successful completion of GED requirements among at risk youth.  The modular structure of the program allowed students to enlist on a rolling basis, and complete only those parts of the program they needed for graduation.

The Program had separate curricula for health, social studies and language arts, as well as for each of seven core social emotional abilities.  It also included instruction on using the program for targeted intervention.  Beyond its multidisciplinary sector and GED appropriate content, the Ripple Effects RELATE for TEENS, also specifically highlighted the goal setting, life skills, and guidance topics necessary for successful attainment of a multiplicity of goals, including of course all of those in the program.

A unique part of the program was that all of these required courses build on students' social-emotional experiences, competencies, and strengths/deficits.  This was especially important for students, who had not been successful in traditional classrooms. It specifically used learning issues and social and emotional learning research to support residents’ in positively and proactively addressing their future literacy, life skills, and job vistas, through introspection and goal setting today.

• TEACH 1 SITES  (TEENS & ADULTS TRAINING)

BRONX
Boston Secor Community Center
Bronx River Community Center
Butler Community Center
Classic Community Center
Ft. Independence Community Center
Soundview Community Center
St. Mary Community Center

BROOKLYN
Bushwick Community Center
Pink Community Center
Steh Low Community Center
Sheephead Community Center
Sumner Community Center
Whitman Community Center

MANHATTAN
Kin Towers Community Center
Lincoln West Community Center
Seward Park Community Center
Rangel Community Center
Rutgers Community Center
Wilson Community Center

QUEENS
Astoria Community Center
Baisley Park Community Center
Hammel Community Center \
Ocean Bay Community Center
Ravenswood Community Center
South Jamaica Community Center

STATEN ISLAND
Mariner’s Harbor Community Center
Richmond Terrace Community Center
South Beach Community Center
Todt Hill Community Center

• TEACH 2 SITES (TEENS & ADULTS TRAINING)

BRONX
Bronxdale Community Center
Bronx River Community Center
Davidson Community Center
Eastchester Community Center
Edenwald Community Center
Gun Hill Community Center
Parkside Community Center
Sedgwick Community Center

BROOKLYN
Carey Gardens Community Center
Cooper Park Community Center
Gowanus Community Center
Independence Community Center
Roosevelt Community Center
Taylor – Wythe Community Center
Van Dyke Community Center
Wyckoff Community Center

MANHATTAN
Carver Community Center
Baruch Community Center
De Hostos Community Center
Jackie Robinson Community Center
Jacob Riis Community Center
Polo Gorunds Community Center
Two Bridges Community Center

QUEENS
Bland Community Center
Redfern Community Center
Woodside Community Center

STATEN ISLAND
Berry Houses Community Center
Stapleton Community Center

REAL JOURNEYS PROGRAM

The FUTUREKIDS program that was offered,Real Journeys, enabled students to effectively develop and enhance lifelong computer skills through a customized curriculum which met the needs of the entry level, intermediate, and advanced skills, as well as age and grade appropriate students.  Projects and explorations within the modules were designed to teach students critical skills in 8 technology areas, as well as character education with “Relate for Kids” and logical thinking development with “Mind Lab”.  The goal was to teach computer literacy skills by having students create practical, reality-based projects using a variety of computer application software while, at the same time, fostering a challenging, cooperative, rigorous academic environment. 

While the program elements were designed in a modular format with a suggested number of lessons, the progression through these module and lessons varied by individual student, as is appropriate for such a differentiated curriculum.  The curriculum introduced novice computer users, as well as intermediate to advanced levels, skills in 8 primary technology areas:  Computer Basics & Operating Systems, Wordprocessing, Graphics, Spreadsheets, Databases, Desktop Publishing, Applied Technology, and Multimedia.

In addition, students used specialized software by Ripple Effects, Relate for Kids, in which, individualized computer-based instruction was employed to build a strong sense of self (through self understanding, commitment to values, control of impulses and management of feelings), a deep awareness of others (through building empathy skills), a sense of justice and integrity (through lessons on honesty, fairness, cheating and stealing) and a deep sense of moral responsibility (through lessons on responsibility, apologies, telling and trust).  It also included instruction on using the program for targeted intervention.  Beyond its multidisciplinary sector, Relate For Kids, also specifically highlighted the goal setting, life skills, and guidance topics necessary for successful attainment of a multiplicity of goals, including of course all of those in the program.

Another software program employed was Mind Lab.  Mind Lab had a comprehensive methodology that enabled the students to improve on skills such as problem solving, decision making, mathematical thinking, memory retention, investigative skills and cooperation.  The aim of Mind Lab was to facilitate the scientific, technological and logical thinking development of the student in evaluating and exploring thinking processes using both inductive and deductive reasoning. 

A unique part of the program was that all of these software programs built on students' social-emotional experiences, competencies, and strengths/deficits.  This was especially important for students, who had not been successful in traditional classrooms. It specifically used learning issues and social and emotional learning research to support residents’ in positively and proactively addressing their future literacy, life skills, and job vistas, through introspection and goal setting today.

• REAL JOURNEYS PROGRAM SITES  (MIDDLE SCHOOLS STUDENTS TRAINING)

BRONX
Bronxdale Community Center
Boston Secor Community Center
Edenwald Community Center
Highbridge Community Center
Marble Hill Community Center
Monroe Community Center
Saint Mary’s Community Center
Sedgwick Community Center
University Community Center

BROOKLYN
Bushwick Community Center
Carey Gardens Community Center
Cooper Park Carey Gardens Community Center
Cypress Hills Community Center
Hope Gardens Community Center
Independence Community Center
O’Dwyer Community Center
Seth Low Community Center
Stuyvestant Community Center
Sumner Community Center

MANHATTAN
Campos Plaza Community Center
Jacob Riis Community Center
Lehman Village Community Center
Lincoln West Community Center
Manhattanville Community Center
Polo Grounds Community Center
Rutgers Community Center
Two Bridges Community Center

QUEENS
Baisley Park Community Center
Bland Community Center
Hammel Community Center
Latimer Gardens Community Center
Ravenswood Community Center
South Jamaica Community Center

STATEN ISLAND
Berry Houses Community Center
Mariner’s Harbor Community Center
South Beach Community Center
Stapleton Community Center
Todt Hill Community Center
West Brighton Community Center

Tech Balanced Literacy to go is an eighteen hour course, plus additional 20 minutes tacked on to the first session for a quantifiable and qualitative assessment and an additional 20 minutes tacked on to the last session for a similar quantifiable and qualitative post assessment.

The thrust of this course is to immediately, enrapture, enthrall and engage the participant adult family members in the ease with which they can become active readers to and with their children and neighborhood youth.  Beyond that explicit family literacy goal, the aim of this experience is to enroll the participants into the circle of active readers and writers.

The course will show them how the traditional perception of reading as reading dry print fiction stories or non fiction factual printed accounts, has over the last quarter of a century broadened to include electronic texts (web sites), functional documents, menus, passports, coupons, circulars, advertisements, billboards, movie subtitles, text messages, email and more.

In addition, the course wants to demonstrate to the participants that the computer can easily connect them and their children or community youth to a shared, delightful online literacy adventure.  Just by typing in an author’s name, participants will learn how to visit him or her at a web site home.  They will be able to write with that author, participate in projects (including art, acting, community service, games) with their author, and get feedback from the author site.  In the same way, they “make” friends in the community by looking at family pictures and learning about family histories, participants will be able to see the author’s family photos, view a video of the author, and even hear him or her read.

Participants will also use several very user friendly programs (Storybook Weaver, Kid Pix Deluxe, Print Artist and MS Publisher) to generate their own illustrated stories, posters, covers, genre book formats and more inspired by the books they share.

Participants will also learn the current approach for teaching reading and writing grades K-12 called Balanced Literacy.  This approach advocates using several anchor classic or highly regarded contemporary trade books as “anchor” works to demonstrate the three major workshops-the reading, the writing, and the word workshop.

Most importantly, all participants will learn how to perform as part of their daily family lives and in working with youth and relatives, the read aloud, the shared reading, the interactive reading, the family memoir writing, and the genre “in style of’ authoring.  These daily joyous routines of everyday life, requiring only a borrowed library book, a walk down the block to the bodega to get food or a ride on the bus to work, are within the easy and ready “grasp, ear, and eye” of every participant.  This course will focus on opening their eyes, ears, hands, hearts, and minds to the ways that literacy laced with technology can immeasurably enrich their lives and those of the children they nurture.
Readers’ technology tooled journeys are never ending!!

This two hour parent/child workshop will involve the family members in using read aloud, interactive reading, and shared family emergent writing activities inspired by different books.

In addition, use of these books will help the Inwood parents raise their own and their children’s self-esteem and self awareness.  Therefore this workshop fosters literacy and social and emotional learning (mental health-Goleman emotional intelligences).

Participants will explore the ways in which the use of Author’s works plus examining the Author’s Internet site can introduce parents to easily downloadable activities that promote basic mathematics readiness, directionality, shared writing, and picture walk literacy.

Through the use of author resources as part of shared family reading and recreation, families, parents, relatives and children can have the pleasure of using book centered activities developed by the author.  Families can also integrate the use of the Internet and its online texts as another form of shared reading or read aloud to and with their children. .

Using the model reproducible activities available on the site, parents and children can enhance their picture walk, book topic and shared family conversations capacities.

Technology Foci: Desktop publishing, Word Processing, Multimedia –Use of Storybook Weaver, Kid Pix, Internet Search and Author Sites

Aim:

• To engage and involve the families and their children in using accessible, free author sites online as a means of exploring, enhancing, and expanding picture walk, self concept, self esteem, following instructions, shared writing, self concept, and counting skills introduced in the Curtis books.
  
  
• To support families and children in making the technology literacy connection from print to multimedia software products through creation of shared family products inspired by Curtis books.
  
  
• To help parents and children in enhancing mathematics readiness, visual literacy, and functional literacy (diagram skills) through use of story inspired materials.
  
  
• To assist families and children in identifying meaningful self concept, family identity, and self esteem building projects inspired by Curtis, an author whose key topic is mental health.
  
  

This workshop will involve the families in exploring how their family photos, ephemera, jewelry, keepsakes, displays, and other key documents, can become a part of a home family museum celebrating their values using multimedia and technology capacities.

This workshop documents through exhibits on how families can be connected by the use of family values and history.

Technology Foci:  Multimedia, Desktop publishing and Internet

Aim: 

• To engage families in creating their own family home based exhibits celebrating family heroes and values in the style of cultural institutions
  
  
• To help families recognize how almost everyone already has a home family museum in place with exhibits, sign, objects and object stories
  
  
• To demonstrate how technology can and does make the family celebration connection using multimedia and research connections
  
  
• To support families in identifying the values, personalities, and key moments in their experiences, this can and should be showcased in a family museum
  
  
• To help families see how their members do qualify for honoring and celebration using trade card templates, crests and trees
  
  
• To help families see how even a simple internet search of a special date in their life history, can and will, help them put their lives into the context of national events.

This course is designed to enable, inform, empower, and inculcate participants in the independent use of educationally credible internet resources as GED and job skills learning tools.  Beyond accessing and mentoring the participants as they navigate and prepare for the GED test success through use of the sites in a targeted content and skills development sequence, the course engages participants in working in small study groups to design their own online/print news based versions of the GED Test.  This task, which also involves their maintaining individual Microsoft word file GED Prep Tech Ticket to Pass Dictionaries of key Test Words and GED Prep Tech Site Guide to Success Tips, works to transform the participants as the course progresses, from anxious test takers to engaged, electronically literate and competent, test makers.  In the process, they hone their GED skills through instructor mediated use of these online resources. They develop online internet research and workplace teaming skills that will make them capable lifelong technology users and producers.

The curriculum also consisted of the Mind Lab – Thinking Games training and The Mind Olympics – Competition.  Students learned the rules, aims, and strategies of each game and how to relate those strategies to real life situations. In addition, students in different boroughs competed in The Mind Lab Olympics.

• Stop Light Method / Analyzing the Surrounding and Making Decisions
• Migrating Bird Method / Cooperation
• Mirrors Method / Self Awareness
• Detective Method / Problem Solving
• Mind Lab Olympics Borough Competition  & Award Given Ceremony

Aim:

• To pre-assess participant perspectives on the efficacy of board game play for enhancing “smarts” and general content knowledge
  
  
• To begin to explore the rituals, routines and habits of successful game play
  
  
• To start to transfer understandings, themes, opportunities and experiences from the game play into application for real life consequences
  
  
• To integrate journal writing, discussion, informational and document study into board game play
  
  
• To infuse family, character education and cultural values into the program

The Technology Training Course consisted of 6 technology units: operating systems & computer basics, word processing, keyboarding, spreadsheets, web page design / telecommunications [Internet], and multimedia presentations focusing on development of key technology skills needed for job readiness, as well as a specialized program designed for problem solving, decision making, mathematical thinking, memory retention, investigative skills and cooperation developments, Mind Lab- Thinking Games training.

• Stop Light Method / Analyzing the Surrounding and Making Decisions
• Migrating Bird Method / Cooperation
• Mirrors Method / Self Awareness
• Detective Method / Problem Solving