1.) Upcoming CTCNet Meeting
2.) Nonprofit Technology Resources 30th Year Celebration Party
3.) YouthBuild Philadelphia is looking for a Network Administrator / Computer Educator
4.) Part-time Employment/People for People, Inc.

1.) Upcoming CTCNet Meeting

This is a friendly reminder that the next CTCNet meeting will take place on October 28th at 1:00 at Hopeworks, located in Camden, NJ. Please try your best to attend this meeting in order to make our chapter more regional in our efforts!

The meeting will begin with a site visit of Hopeworks and its facilities and will continue with the following agenda:

-Minutes from last meeting
-Determine year's event goals
-Define collaboration with TechXchange
-Discussion item - City wireless initiative

Our kick-off meeting at the Lighthouse was small in attendance but was truly inspiring. They are doing amazing work in community development and technology plays a role in educating their community members. Please know that when you go to a CTCNet meeting, you are not only attending a typical meeting, but you're also getting the opportunity to see firsthand how community technology is applied in meaningful ways.

Please RSVP your attendance to Sabra Williams by October 26th by emailing sabraw@uwsepa.org

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2.) Nonprofit Technology Resources 30th Year Celebration Party

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2004
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Location:
The Little Dipper
7854 Montgomery Avenue
Elkins Park, PA 19027
215-635-3116

You are invited to NTR's 30th year celebration party. The evening will include an awards ceremony honoring our volunteers and supporters with a special tribute to our Director, Stanley Pokras and a buffet style dinner complete with an ice cream sundae.

NTR serves low-income people in Philadelphia by recycling used computers, providing hands-on training, and assisting community-based service organizations to use computers in their work. NTR has distributed over 6,000 computers to people and organizations who need them and has prevented over 17,000 computers from going to landfill!
In addition, 6,000 people have taken one or more classes in software or computer hardware with NTR since 1991.

Come meet NTR's Board and Staff as we celebrate 30 years of outstanding accomplishments! Old friends and new faces are welcome.

Tickets are $30 in honor of the 30-year anniversary, $17.50 of which is tax-deductible.

To RSVP, contact NTR at 215-564-6686 or send an email to
ntr@NTRonline.org. Please specify the number of tickets you would like.

Easily accessible by public transit, the Little Dipper is directly across the street from the Elkins Park Regional Rail Station, serviced by the R1, R2, R3, and R5 Trains...

Call NTR for more information: 215-564-6686

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3.) YouthBuild Philadelphia is looking for a Network Administrator / Computer Educator

Job Description

This key position provides problem resolution, maintenance, repairs, upgrades and installation of servers and desktop hardware, software, printers and other peripherals including the phone system. In addition, the position teaches student basic computer skills for one day a week.

Job Profile:

* Administers LAN policies, procedures and standards.
* Troubleshoots and maintains network, e-mail, phone and day-to-day user support
* Manages network performance and ensures security
* Works with management team to create/modify Web content
* Conducts basic computer classes.
* Supports technology program where high school students learn how to refurbish donated computers, which are then distributed to local schools, churches, and various non-profit community organizations.
* Helps support an enterprise where students interact with corporate donors, design and maintain inventory databases, provide technical support to their peers and recipient organizations

Job Qualifications:

* 4-year degree. Computer Science or Network Technology preferred
* Minimum 2 years of network administration experience
* Experience with Windows NT/2000, Active Directory and Lotus Notes is required
* MCSE, MCP, or A+ Certification is a plus
* Excellent written/verbal communication, problem solving, and customer service skills
* Programming skills: ASP/VBScript, hand-coded HTML, JavaScript, CSS
* Database skills: SQL server
* Teaching Experience is preferred

If interested, please email Brian Leffler at bleffler@youthbuildphilly.org or call (215) 627-8671 ext. 29.

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4.) Part-time Employment/People for People, Inc.

Position Title:
After-School Program Academic Instructor/Mentor for High School Students

Position Location:
People for People, Inc.
800 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Purpose of Assignment: People For People, Inc. (PFP), a community/faith-based organization in North Central Philadelphia, has been awarded a Community Technology Center (CTC) Grant to address the need for supplemental instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics to 9th to 12th grade urban students attending high school in an after-school setting with enrichment activities.

Outline of Program Priorities:
I. To improve the academic performance of academically needy high school students by supplying language skills that students need as a basis for reading, listening, thinking, and participating successfully in the classroom in order to enhance academic achievement.
II. To motivate students to attend school, prepare for the PSAT/SAT/ACT, continue through graduation, and help to facilitate an increase in the rate at which students graduate from high school and matriculate in post-secondary education.

Training and Support Plan:
All instructors will receive an orientation to the community technology program (CTC) explaining the mission and goals of the program. Our mission is to offer computer based programs for developing and improving academic performance for high school students that enable them to acquire the knowledge, confidence and leadership needed for educational achievement.

You will be given a tour of the facilities including the location of available program supplies, workspaces, emergency exits, security procedures, telephones, and the vending area. The orientation will include the daily routines of the instructor and planned curriculum for students. Weekly planning sessions will allow the team to evaluate the student, share concerns that may arise about a student's well-being and report disciplinary problems to the Project Director. Overall the Project Director will provide program support and supervision.

Time Commitment:
During the regular public school scheduled calendar year, a minimum of four hours per day. Program hours during the regular public school year include: Monday-Friday, 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Qualifications:
Education: Preferably an undergraduate or graduate college student majoring in education or computer technology. Prior experience in academic tutoring is recommended.

Requirements: A passionate attitude for serving and teaching students in an urban setting and guiding them toward success in their academic endeavors. Have a genuine interest in working with high school youth. Provide satisfactory references. Pass the child abuse history and criminal background check. Abide by all program rules and standards. Serve as a resource to an at-risk urban population grades 9th to 12th grade using a realistic approach to the concerns of today's urban youth population who experience a variety of academic and social challenges.

Demonstrate a strong sense of integrity and professionalism. Have excellent classroom management skills. Well organized, detail oriented with a working knowledge of computers and computer programs. Maintain orderly files and resources for the program. Have the ability to focus on meeting programmatic goals and expected outcomes. Work actively and specifically to encourage youth empowerment, diversity, inclusion and to counter racism and discrimination. Function as an integral member of the team to ensure success for all the high school participants. Maintain accountability to the Program Director.

Dependable and maintain a warm, respectful, friendly demeanor at all times with student participants, the participant's family members, fellow program instructors and People for People staff. Be available for special events such as field trips and parties on an occasional basis.

Program Contact:
Cornelia Lavong, Program Director - 215-763-7060 to leave a message, or ext. 1315 (direct line/no voicemail) or email: clavong@peopleforpeople.org

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5.) Achievement Academy Program Now Accepting Applicants

[Philadelphia, PA] Now entering its thirteenth year, the Achievement
Academy, a mentoring program for minority male youths offered by the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, is currently seeking 9-18 year old applicants for the 2004-2005 program year. The Achievement Academy is an evening program that meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from October 27, 2004 through June 22, 2005 at the Kappa Alpha Psi Achievement Center, located at 5521-29 Germantown Avenue (Germantown Avenue and School House Lane) in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. This year’s application deadline is October 4, 2004. Interested youngsters and parents can secure an application or request additional information by calling the Achievement Academy at 215-848-4227 (extension #4), or by visiting the Academy’s web site at http://www.achievementacademy.net. The Achievement Academy seeks students with the ability and desire to excel in a demanding but fun program that is designed to help students learn the secrets of improving life skills through personal development. The program provides multifaceted mentoring, counseling and training activities targeted to African American and other minority male youths between the ages of 9-18. The major components of the Academy include a series of life skills workshops, a computer lab and youth leadership initiatives.

In the life skills workshops, the initial topic of goal setting is taught to help the students set direction and develop personal objectives. Other topics in the life skills module include self-esteem, money management and family values. The computer lab initiative provides students an opportunity to learn basic and advanced information about personal computers, including familiarization with the Microsoft Office suite of applications, as well as web site design. Lastly, the youth leadership component focuses on communications skills, with a public speaking module that includes speech preparation and delivery. The youth leadership initiative also prepares students for the working world by helping them to develop resume writing and interview skills, and understand the importance of workplace decorum. There is also a focus on college preparation that includes test taking and college selection exercises.

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, whose international headquarters is located in Philadelphia, is one of nine predominantly Afro American national Greek-letter organizations. Each chapter of the fraternity founded on the principle of ACHIEVEMENT is challenged and required to implement some type of activity in support of its national Guide Right program on an annual basis. Established in 1992, the Achievement Academy is the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter’s initiative designed to meet this mandate, and is one of the many philanthropic and service oriented activities that the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter sponsors to support and strengthen the communities where its members live and work.
For further info on programs and activities offered by the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, call (215) 848-4227 or go to http://www.phillykappas.com.

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6.) NY Times on Philly city-wide WiFi project

Another story about Philly's proposed wireless plan from the New York Times:

Big Wi-Fi Project for Philadelphia
By BOB TEDESCHI

Published: September 27, 2004

FORGET cheese steaks, cream cheese and brotherly love. Philadelphia wants to be known as the city of laptops.

The city recently announced a two-year effort to string a free wireless network across its 135 square miles, potentially giving Philadelphia an entirely new identity as the most wired - or unwired - municipality on the planet. But skeptics said this initiative, as well as similar
efforts elsewhere across the United States, could also run aground on its own ambitions.
[...]

The plan's proponents argue that wireless Internet access would benefit Philadelphia in many ways. First, Ms. Neff said, wireless connections would speed economic development in areas where businesses cannot afford to pay $800 to $1,500 monthly for high-speed T-1 lines. The wireless initiative would also improve education, Ms. Neff said, because children would have better access to information, and parents could communicate more effectively with teachers.

Because more than 70 percent of the city's students qualify for economic assistance, she said, few families currently can afford to do that.

"The reason we won't just let the market do this is that there are societal needs that aren't inherently part of the capitalist system. We need to be sure no communities in Philadelphia are excluded, whether there's an R.O.I. or not," Ms. Neff said, using the initials for return on investment."

See full story (requires registration):
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/technology/27ecom.html

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