Newsletter Archive

Newsletter November 2008

From the Executive Director:

More changes at Tincan, all of them good.  With several new grants awarded this fall, we’ve added two new half-time staff:

Michelle Grove is Tincan’s Science Education Coordinator. She holds a BS in Chemistry and an MA in Teaching from Willamette University. Michelle taught secondary science and math in the Portland-area public schools for 7 years. She has also partnered with the non-profit National School Reform Faculty.  She brings to Tincan a passion for science and technology education and will provide curriculum development and instructional support for our science outreach programs.

Ryan Ferguson is Tincan's Video Production Instructor. He joins Joe Comine in teaching our many youth media programs throughout Spokane.  Ryan brings fresh video expertise as a graduate from the Art Institute of Seattle. His wide range of experience includes shooting and editing at two local TV stations, co-founding 1010 Productions, and instructing teens on video production through the Pearson Charitable Foundation.

New grants: Two new grants were received this fall that will allow us to launch significant program initiatives this year.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Tincan $438,396 for the first year of the Science Journalism Pathways to STEM Careers (SJP) project. Ultimately the grant will provide $1,434,571 to implement the project over three years.  The SJP project will be carried out in partnership with two Seattle organizations: the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology and Reel Grrls. Ten after-school clubs (five in the Seattle area and five in Spokane) will engage middle school girls in science journalism, where they will use information technology to investigate and publish information about science issues in their community. Additionally, they will carry out hands-on science activities to shed light on their science story, and will interview STEM professionals who work in disciplines important to their explorations. Their video science news stories and video productions on STEM careers will be published online.

AT&T has awarded Tincan a $35,000 High School Success grant for a pilot project to support high school retention for at-risk students.  Tincan’s project focuses on ninth grade boys at Rogers High School who have been identified as being at significant risk of dropping out of school. The boys will be enrolled in an after school club that will meet twice weekly.  In the club, they will identify a business to develop.  They will be paired with a business mentor who will guide them through the challenges and opportunities facing their business.  Through developing a business plan, they will learn what the educational requirements of the business are, and be introduced to practical issues that they may not have been exposed to at home: financial management, workplace ethics, insurance, etc. In addition to their business website students will also produce a short 5-10 minute video of their mentor’s business to tell the story of the business’s role in the community and what a career in that business requires.

Annual Campaign: While Tincan has a strong record of grants to support our programs, grants only pay for part of the cost of operation. We will shortly begin our 2008 Annual Campaign to raise funds for our programs.  We encourage you to donate through our online system. We take checks, too, made out to Tincan, and sent to us at 827 West First Ave., Suite 121, Spokane 99201.

Donate online now!

Karen L. Michaelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Science Teachers across Washington State Launch Innovative Projects

Teachers all across the state of Washington are creating project-based activities in their classrooms utilizing the skills they learned in Tincan's Summer Teacher Education workshops. For example, Kent Graham in Battleground, WA was a participant in both the Gaming Bootcamp and Eco-Mapping workshops. His students are mapping a stream for the WSU-Vancouver watershed conference. So far they have recorded points where the stream enters the lake, goes under a road, and makes major turns. They have associated photographs with some of the points of interest. This project is both engaging to his students, and will have practical application when they present their findings to the conference. He has also incorporated game development into the science curriculum. His students have studied game design, created old school games and think board games, and have completed tutorials on the software program Multimedia Fusion2. The next step is to integrate science concepts and gaming. He says that his students are very excited about integrating science content now that they have learned game development skills. We will be showcasing student work on the project website throughout the year. Tincan web conferences once a month with all participating teachers to share ideas, discuss issues and support each other in the implementation of the new technologies especially on how to successfully integrate science concepts. We’ll be reporting on activities in other schools around the state in future newsletters.

eMerge News Expands and Changes Name, Format

Tincan’s award winning youth news video production program has changed its name from eMerge News to Tincan Youth Media to better reflect the activities and direction of the program. Teens will move from a news package format to producing short documentaries focused on community issues. This will give teens greater opportunity to explore a topic in-depth and exercise more advanced video production skills. Teens have already begun working on a number of projects, including a documentary on homelessness. The Youth Media group meets at Tincan Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-5pm at Tincan’s downtown offices. Two new after-school groups meet at Havermale and Rogers High Schools. These new programs produce PSA’s and short news packages, as well as documentaries about issues in their respective neighborhoods. The Youth Media program is also teaching video production to teens in West Valley School District’s Contract-Based Education Building Bridges program. Additional Youth Media outreach includes training staff at the YWCA and supporting their development of a video production program for youth in their programs.

Suffrage Centennial Workshops Continue

Eastern Washington teachers continue to learn more about the struggle for women to gain the vote in Washington State as the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Suffrage Centennial Workshop conducts new seminars. The second seminar, which focused on Helga Estby, was held on October 4, 2008 at the Rockford Pioneer Museum in Rockford, WA. Helga Estby served as a prime example of the division between Suffragists and Anti-suffragists present through out the country as well as in individual families. Helga chose to walk from Spokane to New York on a wager to save her family’s land and livelihood in 1896. During her walk her political views in support of suffrage increased while her daughter Clare’s views became very conservative. Helga’s choice created embarrassment for her family and children since she defied traditional Norwegian women’s roles. After Helga’s death her adult children burned the manuscript that she had penned about her adventure.

The SCW teachers read Linda Hunt’s Bold Spirit recounting Helga’s adventure. To enrich this knowledge the workshop was held at the Rockford Pioneer Museum that is home to a number of Helga’s handiwork including a quilt that was crocheted into triangles, watercolor paintings, and needlework. The teachers also visited the Mica Creek Cemetery Helga’s final resting place. The teachers were highly engaged with the book and the headstones, deciphering the names of Helga’s children. The location coupled with the historical materials presented made for an intellectually stimulating day for the teachers.

The third seminar will be held December 6th at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and will feature Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, Historian for NASA Johnson Space Center, an expert on Emma Smith DeVoe. Teachers will explore the vastly different approaches to gaining suffrage in Washington State through Emma Smith DeVoe and May Arkwright Hutton.

Women’s Business Center Gets Results in Tri-Counties

The Inland Northwest Women’s Business Center has been serving the Tri-Counties of northeast Washington since its inception. But, with a grant from the USDA in 2007, we have been able to focus our efforts on assisting small businesses in rural communities through the Northeast Washington Business Development Network (BDN). The grant helps us provide a more hands-on approach to technical assistance in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties.

In the first year of the BDN, over 55 businesses were given technical assistance through business counseling, marketing advice, business planning and development assistance. In addition, there were over 85 individuals or business who called for referrals or to ask one-time questions over the phone.  During this period, our Tri-County clients opened 8 new businesses, and added 18 employees. Ten of these clients expanded their business operations or diversified, 5 businesses are making better use of the Internet and 7 anticipate growth over the next year.

In the past year, workshops were held on business planning, e-Commerce, marketing, customer service, start-up, financial planning and accounting. The upcoming Winter Workshop Series includes classes such as, Be a Bankable Business, Investment Basics, e-Commerce and Marketing 101.

For more information, to schedule an appointment or to register for upcoming workshops, visit our website at www.inwbc.org or email us at kyla@inwbc.org.