It was just "School Choice Week "on TV or for some a "Run like Mad at CES Week "in Nevada at the Convention Center to keep up with the marketplace and be current with new product debuts.
The show covered everything from startups that can lock your door (Bolt) or lamps from Target (ARA project launching with Led). One needed good shoes and a sense of humor listening to outdoor watch with GPS presentation (Casio Pro Trek Wrist Watch) or visiting another press program that touted ULED and QLED (Hisense) where quantum dots, high speed, high quality manufacturing and more were targeting the LCD market in large screen format to implement its demise.
Yet in the wild success of the annual show seldom reflects on the education that went into the creativity that is competing here at the Consumer Electronics Show. Yet in a more international than ever, the show now 50 years old higher ed and innovation are a must. (vintage CES at http://www.ces.tech)
Look at their world changing stats: http://www.ces.tech/News/Press-Releases/CES-Press-Release.aspx?NodeID=20a808f0-c0f9-4298-b3ae-10975b9c1512) These may not be the rocket to the moon type of innovations yet but they have changed transmission, delivery, communications, business, privacy, and so much more.
BBC radio is talking about the life changing slouch of walking and texting impacting London culture today….who talks about the Engineers and Scientists, Artists, and packagers that led to this revolution. Fifty years ago they were kids. In the next 50 years, these kids will innovate or be left out. It's a tipping point for children to be exposed to new ideas, new tools, and self-confidence. They will need concepts and new vocabularies in order to compete.
Today we have named the career area they have pioneered and named it STEM…..a half a century later, today's public school children are learning about Science, Technology and Manufacturing and programs which build resiliency and where the innovation of music, texting, pictures, chatting, texting have invented a new streaming and online world accessible by mobile where digital arts and blended instruction are king. The Alexandria Library was famous in the ancient world, created by Ptolemy….today that library is available in your pocket because of mobile phone technologies.
Access without traveling is allowing grandparents to talk to their doctors or monitor grandchildren in different states….but somewhere it all began with crunching numbers, trying new innovations and selling others on a connected world. The connectivity is a new element in literacy driving STEM into focus and the Arts into the equation of learning faster, deeper, and more creatively.
The creativity of these companies now archived in the Internet or in CES anniversary press has changed the way we teach and learn. We no longer want to follow, but in a big C way....lead the pack. STEAM may be an inclusionary way to meet the goals set by CDE and states and keeping children in school and building their readiness for what we as a country will need.
For example in a Woodland Hills after school program has been exploring academics which include creative problem solving, enriched experiences with both STEM and STEAM. Their program is called "Kids First at Hamlin", and the best way to celebrate this transformation in pedagogy, tools, and expectations is to allow the children who've experienced a new paradigm in teaching say about school. Here are the excerpts from short interviews with four past participating students quoting what they said:
Alexis: " I am 11 years old and I've been in Kids First since kindergarten and I graduated to middle school in 2016. …Kids First gave me the help I needed to prove to myself that I am smart …..and that I can learn more than I thought I could."
Audrey: "I am 11 year old and I've been in Kids First for the past 6 years. I graduated to middle school in 2016. Kids First and Ms. Lynda helped me with my homework and how to learn to add fractions. …. The program has helped me to improve in my studies, in my grades and in the testing that we had to take. The teachers in Kids First are all very smart and make the program a lot of fun. I would recommend Kids First to any one that wants to join Kids First"
Tiana: " I am 11 year old and I've been in Kids First since I was 5 year old and I graduated in 2016 to middle school…..
Kids First helped me with my studies and homework and it has improved my grades. All of their teachers taught us how to study, and to think …they did not "just tell us the answers". Kids First has helped me like school and (Kids First) made it fun and more enjoyable. It also helped me stay in school and want to learn. (Kids First) made me feel school was a safe place to learn and this was my safe place. I would recommend Kids First to all kids"
Chloe: "I am 11 year old and I've been in Kids First since I was 5 year old and I graduated in 2016. Kids First has effected my school work by learning my subjects in a safe way. They made me feel I could do it on my own. Kids First provided a lot of great stuff to do and they are really nice. During the summer program we had a great time! Every day I wanted to come to Kids First, except when I was home sick and I couldn't come. I would recommend Kids First to everyone who wants to join the program."
The point? Whether locals or immigrants, whether from many cultures or from one, the children in Kids First are being readied to join the Economy of the future and to succeed working to their best ability using writing, listening, learning, risk taking, challenges, tools and transitions as their own "learning habitat" based on the role model brought to school from the Business Roundtable and the innovations in brain research and child development that have let to a program like Kids First.
NB: These are four direct testimonials from 11 year olds who are passionate about their abilities and the tools they have taken home to taken on middle school. Their minds are awake, alert, and curious. They are poised, well spoken, polite and concerned about others.
They have mastered grade level studies and excel in soft skills as well as core studies.
At the beginning of the new year, these students are lucky enough to live near Kids First at Hamlin and can attend, but others this quarter they still need your financial help. Please consider helping Kids First to open new sites and create new early childhood jobs for college educated early ed professionals in schools in the San Fernando Valley.
These are the kids that will grow up and become the next SciGirls, designers, developers, coders, makers and they need your help. School choice may mean choosing another school, a private school, a hybrid public charter or the local school….but it may also include a nonprofit provided STEM/STEAM alternative to catch up in the meantime or as support for the parents to know that their kids are safe and learning before and after school.
In order to be ready for great opportunities in California, the U.S. and worldwide in places like the Consumer Electronics Show or forming indie companies and products that will someday be showcased…., future Kids First students need what all learners need…the time, resources, experiences and energy that supports and builds young minds in great ways.
Although the coding, robots, drones, and more of this years 2017 show are now behind us….You can still find Kids First at Hamlin Charter Academy at 818-517-3651 and register this quarter for a few remaining openings by calling Ms. Lynda Reichbach.
In growing our future competitive edge through human factors…you may call to give a tax deductible gift that keeps on giving through a corporate match, a car donation, a donor advised gift, a United Way gift, or writing a check to match the $50K that Kids First needs to open two new sites and put payroll and overhead away for growing.
Your gift can be given through the mail, by phone, by virtual check to EIN 95-4849246 New Education Options. Your donation can be designated for direct scholarships or as capital to grow on.
All children deserve to feel secure, capable of learning and ready for a competitive and rapidly changing economy so that they will be ready for the jobs of the future that CES exhibitors and members like it are inventing.
With children, like Chloe, Audrey, Tiana, and Alexis, who love to learn how to learn -the world is their oyster.
Please consider listening to these students and helping Kids First prepare many others like them by donating money, time and energy to help this wonderful program strengthen its viability, attendance, and capacity this quarter by your gift.
Children in Los Angeles Unified School District will the better for it and so will our economy.
Help Kids First deliver on its mission to enrich young minds, build school ready students and create a safe place for learning in Elementary School. This remarkable K-5 program helps children catch up and succeed at academics because it's a joy to learn ….and not a chore.
This is their tipping point the one that both regular public and charter schools are looking for …the golden opportunity to create happy, responsive, resilient and ready learners capable of taking on reading, writing, coding, making, and so much more.
For the sake of these children, their parents, and the innovators at CTA or CES…when it comes to learning from experience and application….the Kids First Kids are reaching out for a positive future and for them the sky is only the beginning.
KidsFirst at Hamlin Charter Academy:
www.kidsfirst.la
Good Foundations:
http://investinkidsla.org/who-we-are/
CES:
http://www.ces.tech/
EdWeek:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/choice/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=-3JXbdi7vvA
Vouchers (Choice):
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/voucher-law-comparison.aspx
Pisa;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PclP1d9WmrY
Ted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woVtj8GH678
Another Ted Talk or 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvhb9aoyeZs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O7BMa9XGXE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTRxRO5SRA
ACLU (school to prison pipeline research):
https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice#whats-at-stake
CES and career cluster:
http://blog.proclipusa.com/ces-50th-anniversary-vintage-tech-years/
CES history:
http://www.ces.tech/News/Press-Releases/CES-Press-Release.aspx?NodeID=20a808f0-c0f9-4298-b3ae-10975b9c1512
AAWU to YWCA….dealing with nontraditional problems…by staying involved and in school:
http://aauw.org/
http://www.businessinsider.com/7-things-keeping-women-out-of-science-2013-10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_eNYlQ-i1I
https://www.womensmarch.com/
Science blogs and CTE:
https://careertech.org/career-clusters
https://www.sciencedaily.com/
Oh the Places You'll go:
http://lausddaily.net/2016/03/northwest-fest-showcases-programs-opportunities-to-personalize-education/
http://lausddaily.net/2016/12/wesm-students-cultivate-career-skills-with-innovative-aquaponics-systems/
http://achieve.lausd.net/science
Hidden Figures beats out Rogue:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/
Alexandria:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria
STEAM FEST in Spring:
NorthWest STEAM Fest, March 4th, Cleveland HS, 9am-3pm
8140 Vanalden Ave, Reseda "Oh the places you'll go!" (STEM is Science et al and the Arts= STEAM)