Newsletter Archive

Newsletter April 2009

From the Executive Director:

Summer is almost upon us and, as usual, it's Tincan's busy season. A full schedule of teen camps has been planned, plus one camp designed for 5th and 6th grade girls, our first effort in reaching a younger group. Check the story below for more camp details. And check back at the Tincan site frequently, as we may have the opportunity to add more youth experiences in partnership with other organizations.

With our next issue, Tincan is going to launch an opportunity for businesses in our region to reach our newsletter's readers. We have almost 1,500 subscribers to the newsletter - a varied group that includes businesspeople, teachers, parents, government officials and other people interested in their community. Our newsletter will be redesigned to create a space for local businesses to become sponsors. The sponsorships will help support our many educational and community programs. For $100/month, businesses will have their names listed with a direct link to their website. For an even better value, $500 buys six months of sponsorship, and $1,000 buys 12 months. We have five premium sponsorships available, as well. For $2,000, businesses can have not only their name, but their logo presence and link to their web site for 12 months. Don't have a website? Tincan has low cost website development and hosting services for local businesses.

And as always, please consider donating to Tincan to help us continue our innovative programs.

Donate online now!

Karen L. Michaelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Tincan Summer Camp Schedule

The snow is gone and the flowers are peeking up through the ground which means it is time for Tincan's Summer Camps! We are now offering Advanced Game Development and 3D Gaming for teens who want to get deeper into the game development process. These two advanced classes are only open to teens who have taken a summer camp or a school year gaming club. We are still offering Game Development Bootcamp at the beginning of the summer so that teens can get the basic skills needed to participate in the advanced camps. Tincan is also holding a Summer Video Journalism Institute for two weeks where participants will create a short documentary on a social conscious issue. And there is still more...we have two camps that are only open to girls: CSI/Game Development and InvenTech. All camps only require a $20 registration fee; camp costs are subsidized by Tincan's donors and grantors.

For camp descriptions and registration http://www.tincan.org

CBE Students Make Video about Why Teens Drop Out.

Tincan teamed up with West Valley School District's Contract-Based Education Program to produce a video that was featured at the Drop Out Summit held April 17th. Tincan's Joe Comine and Ryan Ferguson as well as CBE's Marty Zeller helped shape the video made by students at CBE. The video was a brush stroke of the many challenges teenagers face and the difficulties that result in some teens dropping out. The project started early this fall and was worked on by many different students. The video received a standing ovation at the Drop Out Summit and can be viewed on Tincan's website. Tincan would like to congratulate all of the students involved in making this video happen as well as thank the students who participated and helped make this video what it is. The video was produced under a Washington State Building Bridges grant.

WIBIT Celebration Set

The end-of-year celebration has been set for Tincan's Women In Biotechnology and Information Technology (WIBIT) programs. Middle school girls from East Valley and Centennial Middle Schools will gather at the Valley YMCA after school on Wednesday May 20th from 4:00-5:30pm to showcase their work.

The 6th and 7th grade WIBIT girls have been working in after school clubs on a "Biotech Soda" e-commerce project, experimenting to design a soda flavor then manufacturing and bottling it. Because soda ferments to develop, it is a biotech process. In addition to having fun, the girls learned about the development process and controlling the final product. Once they developed their product, the girls created a marketing plan complete with a website and a commercial for their fictitious soda company. At the celebration, students will provide samples of their sodas for those in attendance and will showcase their companies' websites.

The 8th grade girls spent the year in their after school clubs as criminal investigators and computer programmers. In the WIBIT CSI/game development curriculum, girls learn forensic science techniques to solve a murder mystery. Various evidence had to be analyzed to solve the crime. Once they solved they mystery, they crafted a crime scene video game that incorporated some of the science techniques they learned in their forensic investigation. At the showcase, students will have their games available for play. Watch for this curriculum in the shape of a 2-week camp for middle school girls this summer, too!

Summer Teacher Workshops

Teachers from all over the state of Washington will once again be in Spokane polishing their science and technology skills in Tincan's challenging summer workshop program. We have added new workshops this year; Advanced Game Development and 3D Gaming. These two workshops will build upon the skills and knowledge of previous Game Development for Educators workshops and is only open to educators who have previously taken Tincan's game development workshops. Due to the success of implementation in the classroom, Eco-Mapping:Beyond the Mercator Map is being offered again this year! Teachers learn to use Google Earth and Google maps as a classroom tool. This workshop is open to middle/high school science and technology educators.

For workshop descriptions and registration
http://rssit.tincan.org