Team TEMS! Cabrini Madness! Join us!

Cabrini Connections Tech Club is a group of inner-city Chicago students who meet Tuesday evenings (on their own time) to learn job skills (such as graphic design, programming, and map-making) from professionals who volunteer one hour each week.

The program is hosted by Cabrini Connections, a tutoring and mentoring program near the Cabrini Green neighborhood that pairs students with volunteer tutors/mentors, and equips these students with extra tools and guidance they might need when making life decisions, pursuing higher education, and ultimately finding success in the job market.

The impact for you is long-term and lasting. See, as more mentoring programs grow, more kids learn to help themselves, and fewer of your tax dollars are eventually needed to fund welfare- and crime-related programs -- two costs of poverty.

Specifically, Cabrini Connections Tech Club (or "Team TEMS" - Technology Expertise for Mentoring Students - as they've dubbed themselves) has been meeting weekly with local IT and design professionals, and together they are in the process of developing a video game (to be released later this year!) In the spirit of advocacy, the video game will provide an interactive look into tutoring/mentoring. It casts students from Team TEMS as the heroes, and examines the challenges they face in building awareness and raising the funding needed to keep Tech Club operational.

See, this couldn't happen without you. So we're giving you a quick way to become involved!

Team TEMS has entered the Cabrini Connections "Cabrini Madness 2010" tournament, as one of 13 teams competing to see who can find the most people willing to support tutoring/mentoring and Tech Club. (Of course, for the tournament, a more intimidating acronym - "Technical Execution Madness Squad" - will be used :)

Head to the Team TEMS home page... meet the students (Charles, Kierre, Nyshanell, and Sean)... as well as volunteers and other roster-members, including Mike Trakan, (GIS Professional, High School Teacher, and Indie Rock Musician)… Szu-Han Ho (a volunteer tutor/mentor)... Christine Kochevar (Graphic Designer, and Artist)… Mark Shore (CIO Shore Capital Management LLC, business leader, and Rock Musician), and Vicky Georganas Trakan (Bar Manager: Webster's Wine Bar, and Artist).

Join our team! All we ask is for a small donation – $5, $10, $25 - as much as you can afford – to this tax-deductible fundraiser/competition.

Together with you, Team TEMS will continue to fight for students' futures, for your community… and for the glory of the “Cabrini Madness Tournament 2010” championship!

Tech Club Creates Graphics for Cabrini Madness

Visit the Cabrini Madness page on the Cabrini Connections web site and you'll see this graphic. It was created by students in tech club working with volunteers who work with technology and graphic design for a living. These students are learning a skill that can lead to jobs and careers.

In Cabrini Madness teams of students, volunteers, staff, Board members and friends are competing with each other to see which team can raise the most dollars to support the ongoing operations of this organization. It's a great competition and many students are learning valuable leadership, communications and team work skills that are valued by business leaders.

The Tech Club has it's own team, and created its own logo. Click here and you can support Zzu-Han Ho, Charles Hill, Mike Trakan, Mark Shore, Vicky Georganas Trakan, Christine Kochevar, Sean Mayfield, Kierre Halbert, and NyShanell Freeman in their quest to win the Cabrini Madness competition.