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Contents
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President's Message
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Welcome to the ConnectToTech e- Newsletter for May -- and as always, we look forward to your feedback!
It's hard to believe we are heading into the final weeks of the school year! With all of your incredibly dedicated,
selfless volunteer work, we accomplished a lot:
- Volunteered at events with hundreds of students, educators, business professionals and parents
- Introduced the first Long Island CoderDojo programming group for students (see below)
- Were recognized as having one of the best all-around STEM Web sites by Newsday
(www.ConnectToTech.org)
- Launched STEMSearch.ConnectToTech.org
and other technology platforms to reach a broader community and run more efficiently and were named
an IDG Computerworld Magazine Laureate
- Were named a New York State STEM Hub Regional Industry Council
Don't miss two events rounding out the school year:
The Long Island STEM Hub celebration on May 9th at the Cradle of Aviation Museum!
Meet organizers, view student projects, hear about STEM resources for you on Long Island
to plan activities for next school year. To learn more and register, click www.listemhub.org
I hope to see you at our last meeting of the school year to be held on May 31st at Motorola Solutions (see below).
This meeting is our chance to reflect on the difference we've made for our students, recognize our volunteers,
and collect your ideas to set priorities for our summer planning sessions.
Please e-mail me at Judy.Murrah@ConnectToTech.org
if you have something to share.
Thank you for your overwhelming support this year!
Judy Murrah
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May 31st General Meeting
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Please join us at our last general meeting of the school year:
When: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Fri May 31st
Where: Motorola Solutions (LIE exit 62)
Agenda:
-- Introductions and networking
-- School-year-in-review and recognition
-- Upcoming programs, internships and camps
-- Ideas and objectives for 2013-2014 school year (for planning)
-- STEMsearch Portal Status
RSVP: Please RSVP to Judy.Murrah@ConnectToTech.org
to let us know if
you'll be attending. We'll have an ID badge and snacks waiting for you!
Please park in back of building and enter through "Post B."
Stay tuned for an announcement of our annual social get-together in June at a nearby location!
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Business Volunteers Needed for Events
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Business professionals are needed to support the following school events:
• May 9 -- Long Island STEM Hub Celebration
(network and learn. See www.listemhub.org)
• May 10 -- Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School
(talk about STEM careers in roundtable format)
• May 21 -- St. Joseph's College HS Coding Contest
(sign up here)
Click here for more details on individual events.
Please contact Judy.Murrah@ConnectToTech.org
if you want to volunteer.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Thank You Business Volunteers
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Thank you to our March and April volunteers:
Our sincere thank you to the business volunteers who participated
in recent programs for students:
Motorola Solutions (Janice Haunss)
Merrimac Elemantary STEM "Show and Tell"
Motorola Solutions (Tom Boehm)
Patchogue-Medford FIRST Robotics team
Retired Verizon (Kathy Wagner)
Motorola Solutions (Judy Murrah)
BNL (Ken White)
Cradle of Aviation Museum (Andy Parton)
NYIT and ConnectToTech Showcase Competition
Melissa and Danilo Archbold
Zion 3rd Annual STEM Mentoring Event
Retired from Verizon (Kathy Wagner)
STEM Career Expo at the Cradle of Aviation Museum
CA Technologies (Tami Clarke)
Nassau BOCES tour of the CA Islandia facilities
Motorola Solutions (Judy Murrah)
IEEE STEM Conference and Chapter Meetings
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CoderDoJO Long Island
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CoderDoJo LI Holds First 2013 Meeting
by Bob DeRosa, BASCOM
CoderDoJo Long Island held its first 2013 meeting at Webair in Garden City in April.
It hosted 11 students (ages 8-14), their parents and 5 mentors. The meeting started by leading the group
through the building of our new Web site using Wordpress. The students chose a template for the Web site
and then designed logos. You can view this work at
http://www.coderdojoli.org.
The group was then split into two subgroups, with three mentors teaching basic HTML and 2 mentors teaching
how to install WordPress Java Tools. The HTML students posted the Web pages they created under "Our Ninja Members."
The other group installed some of the Java tools needed to write Minecraft mods. The Java Tools groups is working on a
Web page that will have a list of the required tools -- along with installation instructions -- so that the
students can complete the process at home.
As you can see from the
pictures in our gallery,
the kids were very engaged. We were very happpy to hear that the parents wanted to invite their children's friends
to the next meeting.
If you have suggestions, or are interested in volunteering as a mentor or providing
facilities to host a meeting, please send an e-mail to
coderdojo@connecttotech.org.
We look forward to your participation and to continuing this excellent program on Long Island.
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For Students
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Great Web Sites to Fuel Your
College Search.
(Courtesy of Newsday College PrepTalk)
Spring is a great time to start your college search, especially as you start to look forward to the summer
break. Go online, where you can find tons of helpful information (and some bogus claims, so if something
sounds too outrageous to be true, it probably is).
You likely know the tried-and-true sites: www.petersons.com and
www.collegeboard.com
to start your search, www.studentaid.ed.gov and
www.finaid.org to learn about financial aid, and
www.commonapp.org
to apply to more that 450 colleges with one application (plus a few supplements).
To these good jumping-off points, add these other Web sites, which will help you as you refine your search and find a college
that you'll love:
www.collegeconfidential.com
("leading college-bound community on the Web")
www.cappex.com
(matches students with colleges that might interest them)
www.zinch.com
(create student profile for search by college recruiters)
www.thecollegesolution.com
(clearinghouse of information and ideas for college-bound students)
www.collegeprowler.com
(comments on colleges from students and recent grads)
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Guest Articles
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STEM Education in Practice!
by Kathy Wagner, Retired from Verizon
On April 9th, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and ConnectToTech hosted the 2nd Annual STEM Showcase
Competition attended by eight teams from three high schools, including Plainview-Old Bethpage, Commack,
Massapequa and the Girl Scouts. Judges included faculty and students from NYIT and volunteers from industry,
including Judy Murrah from Motorola Solutions and ConnectToTech, Ken White from Brookhaven National Laboratory,
Andrew Parton from the Cradle of Aviation Museum, and Kathy Wagner retired from Verizon. Cash prizes and other
special recognition was awarded.
Each team displayed significant enthusiasm, energy and commitment to their projects covering a variety of STEM
disciplines and principles. They ran the gamut from R&D to working prototypes and were supported by visual displays,
videos, demonstrations and presentations. The students discussed practical applications for their creations, the
desire to continue research during the summer and next year, and plans for college study of STEM majors.
For more information, see
NYIT Showcase Competition
Mark your calendars to attend in April of 2014!
A Day in an IT Career at CA Technologies
by Tami Clarke, CA Technologies
A group of students from Nassau BOCES Barry Tech visited CA Technologies on April 9th. The group was first introduced
to a Senior Engineering Services Architect and a Senior Business Systems Analyst. A tour of the Global Command Center
and Data Center was given by an Information Technology manager. The day concluded with a video conference from a Senior
Principal Software Architect that works remotely out of the CA Technologies Bellevue, Washington office. This real world
experience brought to life the concepts learned in the classroom as demonstrated by the many questions and ideas generated
by the students!
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STEMsearch Portal
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STEMsearch Portal Brief
by Michael Nizich, Impact Systems
The latest version of the STEMsearch Portal is available for public use at
http://stemsearch.connecttotech.org
Check out over 900 Long Island STEM events and activities that are available! Use STEMsearch to give visibility to your own
STEM events and activities, request industry volunteers for your classroom, or even
volunteer your own services if you are interested in helping the Long Island STEM effort.
New in this version is a streamlined user interface for all computer systems and browsers, complete with advanced
search and sorting abilities to aid you in your quest.
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Want to participate?
Companies can:
- Speak at a school
- Provide a student tour
- Provide a job shadow
- Sponsor an intern
- Sponsor a program
Schools can:
- Request a speaker
- Request a company tour
- Request a job shadow
- Request an internship
Contact us!
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