World of Jobcraft Launched

World of Jobcraft, a Microsoft-funded employment exploration game, is now online. The program focuses on gaining digital literacy and employment skills for 18-25 year olds who are unemployed or underemployed. As players move through the levels of the game, they participate in workshops, job shadowing, industry tours and other activities that help them focus their career interests and gain the skills they will need for employment in a family-wage job. As they complete each level, players receive real-world rewards such as bus passes or gas cards. Game orientation sessions are scheduled frequently. For more information, contact Sierra Bumsted 509-321-4534 or sierra@tincan.org.

Tincan Director Receives Media Literacy Award

On November 3, The Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media presented Dr. Karen Michaelson, Tincan's Executive Director, with the Bill Niggemeyer Award for Media Literacy. Dr. Michaelson was honored for her role in founding Tincan, and reaching out to give access to the Internet to those who might otherwise not have it. She was honored, in particular, for developing programs for youth that gave them a voice to express their ideas and issues.

Science Journalism Program Growing in New Directions

This year Science Reporters are focusing on a news issue that not only contains science and an element of conflict but also an engineering component. The addition of the engineering piece has "provided a new focus as well as a new way to look at different career areas," according to one teacher. As the students investigate their topic, engineering vocabulary, methodology, and career connections will be infused across the existing Science Reporters curriculum.

The engineering additions to the curriculum were piloted in a Science Reporters summer camp that brought together girls from 4 middle schools to grapple with a local science news issue: the proposed transport of megaloads of oil field equipment through scenic Northern Idaho. The students investigated the complex issue over the course of two weeks, securing interviews with major oil company and pipeline personnel, two local activists' groups, business owners, congress people, engineers, and scientists. To learn more about the engineering aspects of the project, the students visited a local civil engineering firm, Belsby Engineering, where they learned about engineering careers as well as how civil engineering related to their journalism topic. They also interviewed a metallurgical engineer and an electrical engineer, and did hands-on projects including marble rollercoasters, a boat-building challenge, paper tables strong enough to sit on, and marshmallow-spaghetti bridge engineering. The end result was a film on megaloads that was well-received: parties on both sides of the issue have noted the fairness and rigor with which the students handled the issues. They also created an engineering career video. To view the students' two films—and for a preview of the type of projects that will be products of this year's clubs-- you can go to http://tincan.org/sciencereporters/ and watch "Career Video – Engineering" and "Science Reporters Mega Loads Edition. The Science Journalism project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

New Media Lab Assistant Available To Help Users

Tincan welcomes Colin Stuart as our Media Lab Assistant. He will be managing the open lab from Monday-Friday 10am-4pm. Colin is assisting people with basic skills and he is also going to be teaching some of the free workshops that Tincan has to offer. Colin has been a part of Tincan projects since he was in middle school. "Working here I get to use my patience with computers to help others unlock the potential of what computers can offer to them. From the basics of learning how to use a browser to the more advanced skills of software development or video production I get to be on the front line teaching and learning."
 
Growing up Colin has always been in love with computers; once he could understand how they worked his fascination and appreciation for them grew. Throughout his educational career he has done filming and music workshops with Tincan. His interest in computers is not only in knowing what a computer does but in understanding how to utilize its potential and make something of worth for others. The Media Lab was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce BTOP program.

Meet David Lynch

David Lynch is an 81 year old Spokane resident who is determined to create a legacy for his children and grandchildren by taking his home movies from 20 years back and turning them into short films that each one can have documenting their childhood. David revealed that when he was a child his mother used to take a lot of pictures of him and his family and he remembered how good he felt when they would take them out and look through them together. 

David began taking still pictures of his own family after he got out of the service. In 1992 his wife bought him a VHS camcorder and that's when he started filming. When David heard about Tincan's Editing Home Videos workshop he came down to see if we could help him to edit all of that footage into something he could present to his family members.  His goal is to get all of the footage into an editable form and then go through it, picking out the clips for each family member and creating individual films for them.

David said that when he presented his first one to one of his grandchildren and they watched it together that he experienced the same feeling when he would look through his own family pictures that his mother took. He said "it's no good sitting in a shoebox...". Tincan staff admire David for his motivation and willingness to learn new technology and for his desire to bring so much joy to his family. We are privileged to be able to help him.