Turkey comes early !

We will not have our normal session tommorow 11/21/2007 as we begin an early Turkeyday recognition. Eat well & enjoy your families !

Seko VArner
Assistant Director, Techno-Scholars

Moving on up !

We have reached November with our program ! We began with 20 and we currently have 18 with solid attendance. The two Techno-Scholar that are in question will be replaced if they do not improve their attendance. Our boys attended a Gala celebration for the Hampton Roads Messenger last weekend and have made an indelible impression upon the Business people of Hampton Roads. It's a joy to see these 20 pearls polish themselves. They are climbing, we keep lifting........ One day they will do the lifting. Improvement is a wonderful thing !

Old Dominion University 10/29/2007

Today we visited Old Dominion University in our continuing effort to expose our pearls to college life. On campus we had a presentation, a tour of the facilities, and lunch......Our boys enjoyed lunch the most obviously. A number of questions were given by the boys during the tour which leads me to believe that they benefited from the tour. We ended the tour with requests to visit again. After O.D.U. we met with staff from Norfolk State in their audio/visual lab. Our Pearls made introductory commercials with the technology of the site. We will return to allow the Pearls to create complete Public Service Announcements ! Our boys simply enjoyed being on the microphone and did not want to leave. Another day of success for our program !

Techno Scholar's Funding Source - NAFEO

NAFEO's Programs:

Over the past several decades, the United States has lagged behind other nations in scientific and technological research. HBCUs are aggressively working to fill the increasing demand for graduates in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Between 1983 and 2003, the number of white students receiving doctorates in engineering, for example increased only 30 percent whereas the number of black graduates receiving doctoral degrees increased by an astonishing 72%. Two HBCUs, North Carolina A & T and Morgan State were ranked among the top seven engineering programs granting degrees to African Americans. The programs outlined here directly address the goal of NAFEO to increase faculty, students, and professionals in these areas.
Through a new NAFEO program, the Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) CyberInfrastructure Institute, NAFEO, the Hispanic Alliance of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), and a community of researchers, faculty, and students are participating collaboratively to provide training and support in developing and implementing tools and techniques that support the distributed research and education process including, but not limited to: usage of computational grids for remote processing, data mining and management, java-based web service technology, research collaboration using web portals, and distance learning using video teleconferencing.

Techno-Scholars Program
The Techno-Scholars Program is a faith-and community-based pilot program at Hampton University and Norfolk State University designed to prepare black male youth between the ages of 12 and 14 for college and/or career success and decrease the likelihood of their entering the juvenile/criminal justice system and/or prison. Today, when children in inner city schools are more likely to be African Americans but less likely to be connected to the internet, the NAFEO Techno Scholars Project has paired two universities with middle and high school youth in Virginia. This technology-focused program has engaged youth in a combination of experiences designed to introduce them to and improve their technological skills, as well as enhance their academic and social skills. The program provides laptop computers to the participants to allow them to access online content, including development plans, exercises, surveys, and tutorial sessions via a web portal. This program focuses on two strategic goals: (1) capacity building, with a focus on student leadership development; and (2) advocacy, with a focus on a public policy issues consistent with the mission and priorities of NAFEO.
2007 © NAFEO

Sat. 10/6 & Mon. 10/8/2007 Techno Scholar Events

From Seko VArner:
Saturday 10/6/07 we will meet at the Brambleton Center @ 10:00 AM. Our Techno Scholars will go to a park and enjoy themselves. We will end at 2:00 p.m. We will all return to the Brambleton Center (B.C.O.C.) at 2:00 P.M. Dress accordingly.
Monday 10/8/07 we will meet at the BCOC at 9:00 AM for our second in a series of College trips. We will either visit T.C.C. or Old Dominion University. Each Techno Scholar (T.S.) should bring $5 - $10 for lunch, snack, and/or collectibles. We will also watch the movie "Ali" which is about Muhammad Ali. This movie is rated pg-13 due to boxing violence and a few profane words. It has a great message and is culturally relevant to our purpose.

Blog 1

From Seko:
The first blog for Techno Scholars ! Follow the link below to see photos of our first few days and our Techno Blitz ! 20 young men, I've taken to calling them "pearls" since they are always trying to give me "pearls of wisdom", are going to receive technological instruction to a degree that a college student would receive after paying ! This is going to change some lives, if I don't take their lives......... Stay tuned.

http://www.nsu.edu/technoscholars/photos/index.html