1.) GATES MILLENIAL SCHOLARS
2.) Computer Training Courseware
3.) Featured Website: Women in Technology International
4.) CTCNet Grant Opportunity

1.) GATES MILLENIAL SCHOLARS

The Gates Millennium Scholars program will select one thousand students
per year as Gates Millennium Scholars. The scholarship supports the
costs of attendance and can be renewed each year throughout the Scholars undergraduate career, and onto graduate school for those Scholars who choose one of the five graduate majors as their concentration: mathematics, science, engineering, education, or library science.

There are three components of the GMS scholarship nomination process:
(1) A Nominee Personal Information Form to be completed by the student,
(2) A Nominator form to be completed by a principal, teacher, guidance counselor or other professional educator

(3) A Recommender Form to be completed by an adult who is familiar with the Nominee's community
service and leadership activities. Nominations and recommendations from relatives will not be accepted.

Students are eligible to be considered for a GMS scholarship if they:

* Are African American, American Indian/Alaska
Native, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American
* Are a citizen/legal permanent resident or national of the United
States
* Have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (unweighted)
* Will be entering a U.S. accredited college or university as full
time, degree-seeking freshman in the fall
* Have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in
community service, extracurricular or other activities
* Meet the Federal Pell Grant eligibility criteria. (Eligibility for
Federal Pell Grant can only be determined through the submission of a
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to the U.S. Department
of Education, Federal Student Aid Programs).

General information on the program, as well as the nomination forms,
can be found at http://www.gmsp.org. The deadline for submission of
nomination materials is January 16, 2004. If you have any questions
about the program, please contact me by phone at 703.205.2041 or by
email mary.williams@gmsp.org.

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2.) Computer Training Courseware

We are a southern California based company that writes computer training courseware for instructor-led training. For example, when typically teaching a one day class on a topic such as Microsoft Word, the instructor would want to pass out manuals to the students so that they could follow the content of the course and then take that manual with them when they leave as a reference.

We have been in business just over 12 years and, therefore, have a library of approximately 250 titles, ranging from the old MS DOS applications to the most recent MS Office 2003 materials. The manuals are written in MS Word and can be edited if necessary to include your own logo, exercises, etc. and stored on a set of CDs. From the CD, you can either edit the materials to give them a more customized look and feel or simply print them to pass out to students taking a class.

With the economy in trouble, we know that many of the charitable organizations are struggling with donations and want to play at least a small part in assisting those organizations who are giving the most back to their communities. Therefore, we are trying to reach out to organizations such as yours to offer our courseware free of charge.

We are looking to donate our complete library to 10 organizations that provide free training to low income individuals and thought you might be able to assist us in locating groups that would benefit most from our product.

To learn more about our company and to see if this donation would be useful for learning centers you may be affiliated with, please visit our website at http://www.ezref.com.  From there, you can read about our company, download a sample or two of our product and obtain a list of the titles we offer.

If you do feel this donation would be useful, please call our office at (909) 584-4937.  I hope that we will be able to assist valuable organizations you deal with by providing a donation of our product to them.

Sincerely,

Lori Vandermeir
Director, Curriculum Development

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3.) Featured Website: Women in Technology International

www.witi.com/
This website represents a professional association of women from diverse backgrounds, positions, and disciplines who are working with technology. Access listings of national technology-related events, articles, discussion boards, job listings, and more!

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4.) CTCNet Grant Opportunity

CTCNet is pleased to announce a new grant program:

Youth Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods - Enabling Community
Problem-Solving Using Multimedia Technology

On December 3rd, 2003, Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet)
will release an official Request for Proposal (RFP) for its new Youth
Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods Program Development Grants. To
request a copy of the RFP, please contact youthvisions@ctcnet.org after
determining whether or not your community technology center (CTC) meets
the preliminary eligibility requirements. Further details on the
program, including how to apply, eligibility, evaluation, etc. will be
included in the final RFP.

The Youth Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods program is made possible
through a generous grant from the Corporation for National Service's
Learn and Serve America program (www.learnandserve.org). Learn and Serve America supports service-learning programs in schools and community organizations that help nearly one million students from kindergarten through college meet community needs, while improving their academic skills and learning the habits of good citizenship. Learn and Serve grants are used to create new programs or replicate existing programs, as well as to provide training and development to staff, faculty, and volunteers.

General Program Description
CTCNet will award grants to eight community technology centers (CTCs)
around the country that offer multimedia training for adolescents. Both
urban and rural CTCs will be part of the program. Each of these eight
CTCs will engage youth ages 12 to 14 in a community problem-solving
project that requires sustained work over the course of a semester or
summer. Programs operations will begin in January 2004 and must be
completed by September 2004.

Selected sites must have experience training youth in the use of
multimedia tools and be willing to take part in a participatory process
aimed at building a strong curriculum and evaluation methodology that
may be used by future sites participating in the program.

This program is designed to empower youths and CTCs to engage in local
community building and decision-making incorporating tools and training
commonly offered by CTCs. One expected outcome of the program is a
change in the attitudes of participating youth as they realize their
role in community problem solving. Another outcome will be an increased
number of community members who perceive youth as vital assets to their
neighborhoods' long-term health and success. See Program Goals.

Sub-grant Awards
Each CTC awarded through this program will receive approximately $22,000
and must contribute at least $2,000 in non-federal matching funds. It
is expected that CTCNet will continue to issue similar sub-grants for
two (2) additional years.

Preliminary Eligibility Requirements:*
. Applicant is a Community Technology Center (CTC) that serves the needs of people who typically lack access to computers and related technologies
. Applicant has experience offering multimedia technology training
programs for youth
. Applicant has experience offering programs aimed at adolescents
. Applicant is willing and able to collect data, and to facilitate
interviewing conducted by external researchers
. Applicant has the basic resources to conduct training in multimedia
(although multimedia projects need not be sophisticated, centers must
have the basic tools to create the planned multimedia presentations in
place -- sub-grants may not be used to purchase substantial equipment)
. Applicant, or fiscal agent under which the applicant applies, has
501(c)(3) status. No political or lobbying groups may apply.

* The final RFP may contain additional and/or revised eligibility
requirements.

Program Goals
CTCNet is interested in youth programs that involve the use of
multimedia to engage youth and improve communities. Multimedia tools
enable youth to document problems, needs and issues in a neighborhood -
while also enabling community members to envision possible solutions.
Programs that use multimedia as a tool for community building also
engage youth on multiple levels.

Below are some of the factors we are interested in tracking, divided
into four categories: cognitive, psychological, career and
social/community. Please note that the final RFP may contain additional
and/or revised program goals.

Cognitive
. Increased basic literacy skills
. Increased awareness and understanding of social issues
. Increased critical thinking and investigation skills
. Improved media literacy and analysis skills

Psychological
. Change in locus of control over community problems
. Internalized sense of right and responsibility to be engaged in
  community decision making and problem solving
. Increased sense of connection with people and institutions within the
  community

Career
. Improved technology/multimedia skills
. Increased valuation of academics and intellectual pursuits
. Increased awareness of careers related to communications and
  journalism

Social/Community
. Increased CTC involvement in community such that the CTC becomes a hub
  of community activity
. Increased creation of locally relevant original multimedia content`
. Increased voluntarism

Process
The program will proceed with the following key steps:

Step 1: Recruitment and Assessment of Youth Participants.
. Adult staff recruit, interview and select youth participants.
. Staff members have a role in evaluating the program throughout the
  grant period.

Step 2: Identify Neighborhood Needs or Problems.
. At each site, youth identify their neighborhood's needs and problems
  based on interviews they conduct with parents/guardians, family,
  neighbors and community leaders.
. They also investigate these problems/needs by using local news sources
  and the Internet.

Step 3: Focus on a Single Need or Problem.
. Each young person chooses the neighborhood needs/problems that he or
  she would like the group to address.
. Youth compare ideas and advocate for the single, most important issue
  they think their CTC should focus on for the duration of this program.
. The group selects a single need or problem to focus on.

Step 4: Research the Problem Chosen by the Group.
. Youth conduct further research into the extent and nature of this
  problem/need in their community.
. They conduct additional interviews with parents/guardians, family,
  neighbors and community leaders.
. They use local news sources and the Internet to research problems.
. They also use their research to identify stakeholders affected by the
  problem.
. They investigate how this problem/need compares with similar
  problems/needs in other neighborhoods.

Step 5: Learn About Local, State and/or Federal Government.
. With guidance by the CTC's adult staff member, youth learn about the
  civic and legal entities that have the greatest impact on potential
  solutions to the problem.
. Youth also learn how the decision/regulation/lawmaking process works.

Step 6: Choose Solutions.
. Youth decide, as a group, how to address the problem most effectively.

Step 7: Document the Problem using Multimedia Tools.
. Youth use tools such as Web pages with text and photos, video or
  audio; digital videos, animation and digital audio to document their
  research.

Step 8: Conduct Community Meetings.
. The CTC hosts one or more community meetings for youth to educate
  members of the neighborhood about the problem they have identified and
  their proposal for addressing the problem. Those who participated in the
  research process are invited along with family members and the general
  community.
. At this meeting, community members are encouraged to share their
  comments on the problem and their feedback on the solution the youth
  have proposed.  . Youth record community comments.

Step 9: Revise the Solution Proposed for Addressing the Problem.
. Based on community comments shared during the meeting and the overall
  community response to the presentation, youth revise/improve their
  portrayal of the problem as well as their proposed solution.

Step 10: Meeting with Decision Makers.
. Youth meet with local decision-makers/policymakers to present their
  findings and advocate for change. Note: Under this program, youth may
  not undertake activities which support particular candidates or parties
  or can be construed as lobbying for particular legislation.

Step 11: Action
. Youth design and take part in an action that takes a direct step
  towards improving the problem they explored.

Step 12: Reflection
. Youth review what has been accomplished and plan for how they will
  stay engaged in the development of their community.
. Youth may choose to establish an ongoing group at this point.
  Note: Sites, of course, are encouraged to incorporate reflection
  activities into multiple phases of the project cycle.

Step 13: Final Evaluation
. Staff members participate in interviews and focus groups and deliver
  post-program assessments of participating youth.
. Staff members write a report describing their findings.

Evaluation
The Youth Visions for Better Communities program will be evaluated using
a human development methodology. Research in youth development shows
that focusing on factors that promote the healthy development of youth
(such as development of a caring relationship with an adult) achieves
far better results than focusing on risk factors (such as stopping teen
pregnancy), since risk behaviors tend to be symptoms of unhealthy
development.

The evaluation likely will incorporate several survey instruments,
including one related to the Search Institute's Forty Assets Model
(www.search-institute.org/assets), which includes a series of
tested, normed instruments for pre- and post-testing. A full list of
assets is available here: www.search-institute.org/assets/40Assets.pdf.
In addition, participant CTCs will be required to track various
indicators of student involvement, attitudes, and behavior on a regular
basis. Finally, external researchers will seek to interview student and
adult participants in the program.

More detailed information on Evaluation methods and tools will be
provided in the final RFP.

Request RFP
If your CTC meets the Eligibility Requirements listed above, you may
request an RFP by sending an email to youthvisions@ctcnet.org. Due to
the volume of expected requests, we will be unable to answer your
questions about this program individually, but if you do submit
questions regarding this program, we will address them in the final RFP
and/or a related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

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