“Laptops under the oak”, Bing Image Creator, Burn-E.
Today, I’m thankful for electricity and internet service. Thanks to the storm, Debby, for reminding me. It has been a wonderful summer of warm weather, flowers, green trees, and sunshine. And, plenty of rain, sure… But no drought! And swimming with grandkids is the best.
I’m also pleased that Innovate Chatham is making many good things happen, as you will read below!
Chatham Tech Talk
June brought us a presentation by Brenton Hart about the state of broadband in Chatham. Chatham is growing rapidly, and broadband internet in the more rural areas is still a challenge, but there are several grants accepted and outstanding that we expect will attract broadband providers. Brenton went through them and provided resources you can use to find out more. His presentation is here.
We are working with a group called Experienced Innovators in Fearrington, led by Carl Angel, which we hope will result in some classes and mentoring opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
We may try to have a computer gaming night at some point, like an old-fashioned LAN party. If you think this is a good idea (or not), let me know.
Digital Inclusion
Chatham Digital Inclusion Plan
We had a small celebration for members and friends at HAVOC because the Chatham Digital Inclusion Plan that Innovate Chatham drafted made it through the Chatham County government and nonprofit partner reviews and is now out for public comment. This is the county’s first time to collect comments from their Community Nexus platform. Please have a look and comment on the Plan here:
https://chathamcommunitynexus.com/
Digital Champion Grant
Early this year, Don Kallgren created a magnificent plan, waded through the bureaucracy, submitted our plan. We were on pins and needles for months as the process dragged on. But sadly, the state did not award us a grant to install public WiFi stations in Chatham County.
The state did award Central Pines Regional Council (formerly the Triangle J Council of Governments) $800k for digital literacy training and to manage a network of digital literacy programs. They serve Moore, Lee, Chatham, Orange, Durham, Wake, and Johnston counties. This grant may bring some opportunities for us, but we will continue to search for more grants and other opportunities.
STEM Education
It’s been a jam-packed summer of STEM work!
SparkLab
Don taught a four-day workshop on the Internet of Things at the SparkLab Chatham in Siler City, which included learning the essential software tools for Arduino and microcontrollers. With Don’s help, the program’s kids built devices with a propane gas sensor and an ultrasonic sonar sensor. Don overcame many challenges caused by the locked-down network and computers.
Don assisted the SparkLab students during a second 4-day session assembling and debugging their robotics kits, and presented a 1-hour talk to the students on Software Defined Radio and related topics in electrical engineering.
Don’s son, Kyle, also gave a class in video production. This was very well received, which you can see from these notes from the organizers of the SparkLab Summer Program:
Don,
Thank you so much!!! You and Kyle were both assets to our program! Our students learned so much and enjoyed your time with them. We will definitely keep in touch!!!
Bobbie J Robertson
I was reviewing our photo album and was reminded of the impact both Kyle and you had on our students. They were incredibly engaged and I am going to be following up with the both of you for certain! Kyle I am making my way thru your latest video and enjoying it very much. That certainly was a major endeavor! I am hoping to have your virtual help with a video project very soon. Let’s just be honest here, I am going to ask for your help on many video projects! Your eye is so refined that you are a treasure trove of ideas.
Victoria Sylvestre
Back to School Bash-Bray Park
In support of our partners at Communities in Schools, we helped entertain kids coming to pick up free school supplies at Bray Park in Siler City. Despite the occasional wind gust, we had a steady stream of young designers who engineered impressive towers and other structures with disposable cups, tape, and craft sticks.
Esports
Burney and Jesse toured the Greensboro UNCG Esports arena, which was an inspiring field trip. Imagine a space chock full of top-end computers, gaming chairs, neon lights, and video displays everywhere. We got to meet the staff who run the center and hear how they use the space for many classes that focus on building immersive experiences, the business of running eSports, and the many careers related to eSports and game creation that the facility helps them explore.
Pittsboro Boys and Girls Club
We hosted an eSports program for the Pittsboro Boys and Girls Club kids with Caleb Smith and the other awesome folks at NC Esports Academy. With their help, the youngsters built rollercoasters in Minecraft software, which was not as easy as I had imagined. The kids were engaged, entertained, and educated for hours until the next group of 15 rotated through.
We are going to look for other such opportunities!
It does cost a few hundred dollars for us to host such an event. If you would like to help support events like this, you can use our donation website, or don’t hesitate to get in touch with me for more information.
Career Presentations
We believe that children cannot work toward STEM careers without knowing about those careers. To that end, we believe in exposing children to various careers by having successful people tell the story of their (always fascinating) journey. We organized 6 presenters for the Summer IT Intern program in Siler City this summer. The presenters were:
- Kyle Shipp, Data Center IT, and PBO Mayor
- Michael Pipkin, Havoc Brewing Brewmaster
- Kevin Flynn, Mechanical Engineer and Intellectual Property Attorney
- Don Kallgren, Electrical and Electronics Engineer
- Grant Leonard, Cybersecurity
- Burney Waring, Consulting Engineer
Chatham Youth Development Center
As part of an annual career day, Burney talked about STEM careers with the children caught in the justice system at the Chatham Youth Development Center. It was a humbling experience to meet 32 children growing up in bad situations and spend 5 minutes with each, listening to their interests, encouraging them, and explaining that a STEM career was something they could aspire to.
Horton Middle School
We are working with Chatham County Communities in Schools and the Horton teachers to set up an ongoing STEM club at the school that would start in the fall. Wish us luck!
Volunteer Opportunities
We are always interested in having additional volunteers. In most cases, we prioritize opportunities based on volunteer interest. So, let me know if you would like to help with any of these things, or you can suggest possibilities for us to help:
- We want to hold events to teach or demonstrate technical skills, whether practical or artistic. Please let me know if you have ideas about what you want to learn or if you know someone who might want to teach or demonstrate.
- Technical topic presentation – we need topic and presenter suggestions for Tech Talk
- Instructor’s aides for basic computer classes
- Tech Career Fairs: We always need a list of people who can describe and discuss their tech careers at various high schools.
- Science Fairs Judges – needed for fall and spring to judge science and engineering projects while encouraging kids
- Congressional App Challenge – we would like to help middle and high schoolers build their simple software app to submit for recognition in a contest.
- Search engine optimization help, and social media help
Please let me know, and we can chat further about your interests.
You are very welcome to share this newsletter with anyone you like.
If you enjoy being part of the Innovate Chatham community, please consider submitting an annual membership contribution of $25 for 2024.
Not a member? If you like our work at Innovate Chatham, please consider joining us as a paid member. Your membership helps us cover the expenses of running a nonprofit.
Burney Waring
Innovate Chatham President
warings@gmail.com
Thanks to our Partners and Supporters
