Hey Tech Fans. We need your support

This year's Cabrini Madness tourney has 13 teams of students and volunteers raising money for Cabrini Connections. The team that raises the most by the end of the NCAA Basketball Tournament wins.

Right now Team Five Dragons, which features Tech Club members and Mapping for Justice supporters, is in last place! You can change that with a donation (here) and by asking friends, family, co-workers and tech supporters to give and to blog about the tourney.

Money raised helps keep Cabrini Connections and tech club available to our teens.

Technology Expertise for Mentoring Students

The Cabrini Connections "Cabrini Madness 2010" tournament raised over $23,000 for Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection!!!

The tournament brought students, volunteers, community leaders, and you and I together in the name of a great cause - tutoring and mentoring - helping students reach their full potential, in an era where school cuts and budget crises continue to undermine the value of a public education.

Many new volunteers, donors, and mentoring advocates were introduced to the cause through the tournament.

Many others, already active with the cause, got a unique chance to meet, work, and have fun with others they might not otherwise have met.

And while only one team could be crowned Tournament Champion (GUARANTEED VICTORY edged out TEAM IMPECCABLE in the fundraising $6402 to $6120 on a last-minute donation by a professional NFL football player)... at the risk of sounding cliche.... "everybody won!!" :)

Well, that's what we, Team TEMS, are telling ourselves anyway :) We fought hard but only came in 6th place. You helped us raise $1175 for the cause! Thank you!

"Team TEMS"? As you likely know by now, Cabrini Connections Tech Club entered a team in the tournament... which was named "TEMS" by the 7th-9th graders who participate each week in Tech Club. "Technical Execution Madness Squad."

An intimidating name for a tournament. But like everything we created and learned during the tournament (The kids used their ever-improving tech skills to design logos/fliers/artwork, like the one above, for the tournament... and they took the lead in organizing two "Game Night" fundraisers)...

The name "Team TEMS" will stick with us...

Team TEMS - "Technology Expertise for Mentoring Students" - will be the name all our Tech Club projects will be produced under, henceforward.

So please take a look at this quick video that reflects on all the afterglow from the first annual Cabrini Connections Tournament.

And please accept our many thanks for your donations, which helped us make the first cut and finish in 6th place with $1175... as well as for all your support and words of encouragement these past couple months... and for coming to the two "game night" fundraisers the kids organized... (action picture to the left!)

But don't forget to check in from time to time, to this blog, and keep an eye on Team TEMS moving forward.

Because the tournament kept us busy, but it did little to distract us from the development of our next "Team TEMS" production... a video game... which builds on the teamwork, tech, advocacy, and troubleshooting skills we learned while competing in the Cabrini Madness Tournament.

We look forward to sharing it with you when it is released early this summer!

Game Day #2 - The Sequel - Video Games This Saturday!

Last weekend's Board Game Fundraiser was a lot of fun. We had an enthralling game of Simpson's Clue (I still can't believe that it wasn't Lisa with the necklace in the Bowl-arama)... some Yu-Gi-Oh! card action... a little Scrabble and some Monopoly and Wheel of Fortune.

Good times... Students... Volunteers...Staff... and You... all got together in the name of community, mentoring, and raising money for the Cabrini Madness Tourney!!

But maybe the biggest success of all was the enthusiasm from the 9th grade Tech Club students, who approached my wife and I afterward to critique the way they had marketed the event, analyzing how the poster they designed last week could have been more effective at drawing people to the event.

Specifically they thought the image they chose in the ad didn't make people think "board games."

Lightbulbs were popping on, up over their heads.

What if we took the lessons we learned, and hosted a more tech-oriented "Video Game Fundraiser" for the people who couldn't make it last week... and...

What if we promoted it better? With images that screamed "video games"... They were learning... they are excited about advocating for their cause... and they wanted another shot at it.

So, without further ado... using the lessons the kids learned, and a new poster design they put together tonight in Tech Club, I invite you to:

Game Night #2 The Sequel - Video Games!
A fundraiser for Cabrini Connections Mentoring.

Stop by and say hi... and kick some Guitar Hero butt.

$5 donation, any time 1-6pm. Bring some food or drinks to share, if you like.

(Click on the flyer we designed in Tech Club - that image above - for more details!)

If you cannot make it but want to donate to the cause... http://www.giveforward.org/tems

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!

Holiday Fund Raising - Organize An Event

Over the past few weeks staff and volunteers of Cabrini Connections have been inviting friends, family and coworkers to help with Holiday FUNdraising. I encourage you to read El Da'Sheon's article, showing how he's reaching out.

Our teens are helping, too. The holiday graphics that we're using were created by the youth who meet each week for Tech Club. I think you'll agree, there is a lot of talent. Hopefully, we'll be able to find enough donors, and additional volunteers, to help these kids keep developing these skills.

We'd like to see a lot of our volunteers and friends organize their own fund raising campaigns this year. At GiveForward we've set up a Tis The Season campaign which you can contribute to. Or, you can register, and create your own personalized campaign that can be supported by your company, faith group, family, or social group.

If enough people try to raise the money needed at Cabrini Connections, we will be able to continue to teach teens to make graphics and use technology to communicate ideas. Thank you everyone for your help.