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 Can't Get Cut! Join Us For Board Games!

The web banner above was designed by Tech Club (aka Team TEMS) member, Charles (aka Mizawa).

As of today, with the 1st cut in the Cabrini Madness Tournament looming on the horizon, Tech Club's "Team TEMS" entry is sitting in 9th place with $312 raised. Only $63 separates us and the 8th seed, which represents the cut (and occurs on March 21st).

Don't let us get cut! Donate $5, $10, $25... whatever you can afford to help Team TEMS get to the next round!

And come meet us for Game Night (Day)!

This Saturday. $5 entry donated to Team TEMS.

Share your favorite game with us! Any time from 1pm until 6pm.

Or come at 1pm sharp to get in on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Tourney.

More details in the flyer to the right (created by Team TEMS members Sean and Charles).

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.

Merry Christmas!! From Tech Club!!!!

We here at Tech Club want to thank everyone for their support this past year, and hope everyone has a safe and merry Christmas day!

(Snowman design by Kierre (bio here)... the young man who also produced the "Turkey Head" Cabrini Connections logo from Thanksgiving, using the same image editing skills he's been perfecting at Tuesday Night Tech Club.)

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Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering to share your particular tech expertise with us this school year! We'd love to work with you!

Happy Holidays From Tech Club Students Charles and Sean!

It should be no surprise that one of the more creative and provocative Christmas designs was created by our more experienced tech club members, who offer this sleek Holidays At Night design (as I like to call it :)



Two of our older tech club members, Charles (aka Mizawa) and Sean (See Sean's bio here) are already fairly accomplished techies, both on paths to become talented designers and programers. In fact, much of their time in the club has been spent offering a hand as teacher assistant for the younger members.

If you look through this blog, you will see several examples of the compositions Mizawa has already created, through his own motivation (the Tech Club banner up above for instance, but cool designs here and here. And check out some of the anime he's put together here.)

Both of these young men have also become Paint.Net gurus, and also have collaborated on a few animations, like this one here.

It will be exciting to see the work they produce in our upcoming projects in 2010.

Meantime, please join Sean, Charles, and myself in having a safe and merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays From Tech Club Student Israel!

This is the third in our series of holiday graphics designed by 7th-9th grade students at Cabrini Connections Tech Club... students who choose to spend their Tuesday evenings learning/practicing marketable tech skills.

Today's designer, Israel (bio here), took a different approach from the one NyShanell and Marquise took. While the previous two graphics were assembled using Photoshop to cut, paste, and manipulate graphics that were borrowed from elsewhere on the internet, Israel decided to combine technology with his talent as a 2-dimensional artist (he also spends Monday evenings as a member of the Cabrini Connections Art Club).

To accomplish the bells above, he simply drew his image, and then scanned it into the computer, saving the file to be easily opened in an editing application like Photoshop.

Like all great composers however, Israel simply has too many good ideas floating around to get caught up too long in any single art piece!

I can't wait for the artist to come back to these bells with new inspiration and maybe take them to new artistic levels.

Meantime, great job, Israel, using the computer to take something you drew, and prepping it for digital editing. And thanks for the holiday wishes!

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Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering to share your particular tech expertise with us this school year! We'd love to work with you!