Spring 2016 EQ

EQ

+ LOOK

INSIDE OVERALL FOUNDER’S WINNER

Spring 2016

QUARTERLY

sUMMER

ISSUE

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BY THE

> SPRING

BUFFALO

HIGHLIGHTS

EAST PROJECT PROFILES

FOUNTAIN LAKE + MALVERN MIDDLE

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NATIONAL SERVICE PROJECT

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The EAST Initiative would like to thank all its supporters who contributed on April 7 for #ArkansasGives. That support allowed EAST to earn full matching pledges from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and was further augmented by bonus dollars from the Arkansas Community Foundation. All told, this year’s fundraising totaled $5,500, a 400 percent increase over last year. Those funds have allowed the EAST Initiative to offer an additional Beyond the Bell grant for students engaging in EAST projects over the summer and outside the normal classroom hours.

SPRING 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

EDITOR’S LETTER

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UPGRADE GRANTS

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NSP 2017

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JUST THE SPECS

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By Spencer Watson

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BOARD PROFILE

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PROJECT PROFILES

A Q&A with Board Member Brent Staley.

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An introduction to the idea behind next year’s National Service Project.

sUMMER

BY THE

BUFFALO

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STAFF PROFILE

More than coincidence brought four former EAST students to one startup.

From corrections to development, the journey of James Hopper.

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A personal battle turns into aid and a recycling drive takes aim at rewriting the law.

Find out how to get help funding new tech in your classroom.

A look inside what goes into planning a new EAST classroom.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

FEATURE STORY

How Harrison Junior High decided to win the highest award in EAST.

ON THE COVER SUMMER SEMINAR

A return of the matrix and an expanded playground are just a couple highlights of 2016.

SPRING EVENTS

See highlights from Conference, Spring Trainings and other events!

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GEEK SPEAK

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CALENDAR

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GEAR STORE

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PARTNERS & SPONSORS

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EAST STAFF

How to know if your Windows is out of date and why it’s important to update.

Upcoming events for June, July and August.

Buy new gear we have in stock so that you can look awesome.

Thank you to all who sponsor and partner with EAST!

Here’s a little insight into what the staff of EAST is really like.

SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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EDITOR’S LETTER

EQ SUMMER IS NIGH, AND IT MUST BE GREAT TO HAVE THE NEXT THREE MONTHS OFF, RIGHT? Of course, teachers don’t really know what that’s like, and EAST facilitators are no exception. But I’m sure they never get tired of people assuming they get such a luxury.

Still, while a full 90 days poolside may not be imminent, there are a few things to smile about in the very near future.

With summer comes Summer Seminar (truth in advertising right there). We at EAST are working hard to make this an incredible opportunity for great professional development and growth for our educators, and you can see a little bit of what we mean by that later on in this issue. Oh, and we plan to have some fun while we’re at it. See you in Harrison come July.

Speaking of Harrison, the junior high school there has been doing some pretty nifty things over the past year. For that they were honored with the overall Founder’s Award at Conference in March. You can read a little about their journey to that lofty peak in this issue as well.

Of course, EAST students are doing remarkable things everywhere, and that includes at Malvern Middle School, where efforts are underway to change state law when it comes to electronics recycling, and at Fountain Lake High School, where a young woman turned her personal experiences into an idea to help others. Noble projects both.

Elsewhere in this issue you’ll get to meet a newer face on the EAST Initiative’s Board of Directors and get to know a familiar face on the EAST staff who has taken on a new role.

Yes, indeed, school may be on hiatus while the thermometer stretches its mercury, but any thoughts of extended inactivity are hard to entertain. It’s been a busy spring, and summer will be no different in the world of EAST. We look forward to it.

QUARTERLY

6215 Ranch Dr. Little Rock, AR 72223 501.371.5016 www.eastinitiative.org MAGAZINE TEAM Editor - Spencer Watson Designer - Dave Lewis CONTRIBUTORS Marisa Damm PHOTOGRAPHY Spencer Watson Dave Lewis COVER Dave Lewis PRINTING/PUBLISHING Printed by Allegra Print & Imaging of Arkansas, Inc. Published digitally through Issuu at: issuu.com/eastquarterly Disclaimer The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited materials lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of the EAST Initiative. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder. All copyrights are recognized and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review.

Spencer Watson

Editor EAST Quarterly

Questions or feedback?

communications@EASTstaff.org

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EAST QUARTERLY | www.EASTinitiative.org

EAST COMMUNITY

TIME TO

A P P LY N O W !

Does your classroom need a new 3D printer or a 360 camera?

How about faster computers or more tablets?

If so, we have good news.

Each summer the EAST Initiative and Arkansas Department of Education offer a limited number of matching grants for established Arkansas programs looking to buy new classroom technology. These upgrade grants will match a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $5,000 per school.

To be eligible this year, a program must have been established during or before the 2012-2013 school year and must not have received an upgrade grant for the past four years. Participation and involvement in certain EAST events is also required. A full checklist is available with the grant application. Due to funding sources, only Arkansas schools are eligible.

To apply, facilitators should download the grant application at eastinitiative.org. Look for “Grants” under “News and Opportunities.” The completed application must be uploaded by 5 p.m. July 1. Applications will be reviewed and award recipients notified and announced on or before Sept. 9.

GOOD LUCK, AND HAPPY UPGRADING!

SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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NATIONAL SERVICE PROJECT

2017 STRENGTHENING

FOUNDATIONS OF

LEARNING Each year, the EAST Initiative chooses a National Service Project (NSP) with the hope to challenge and inspire students to take on projects with a common focus. In years past the theme chosen for NSP has presented ideas as varied as energy, supporting American troops and their families and, most recently, challenging programs to get out of the classroom and into their communities.

In the coming year, the NSP will challenge EAST programs to develop projects designed to strengthen the foundations of learning. EAST projects should feature the sophisticated integration of technology to promote learning in a variety of different communities.

SOME AREAS OF FOCUS COULD INCLUDE:

PROMOTING LITERACY AT ALL AGES INCREASING DIGITAL LITERACY AND COMPUTER SKILLS TEACHING JOB SKILLS CREATING OR EXPANDING BEFORE- AND AFTER-SCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS OFFERING ADULT EDUCATION INTRODUCING CODING TO NEW LEARNERS

These are simply a few general ideas for projects. The only limitation is the ingenuity of students to apply their skills to promoting education, particularly in nontraditional learning communities— that is, outside of school.

Much like a house, an education is both an investment and a shelter. But without the proper foundation, that structure may prove insufficient. The intent of this year’s NSP is to challenge programs to consider the pillars upon which an education is built and find ways to fortify them and thus to strengthen the foundations of learning.

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EAST NEWS

SPECTACULAR

A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT GOES INTO A NEW EAST CL ASSROOM

P

in a server and networking equipment, and the groundwork is complete.

PRINTERS: These days having a color and black and white laser printer isn’t enough. EAST has long included a large for-

3’

MACS

PRINTERS

5’

12’ X 4’ CONFERENCE TABLE

3D PRINTERS

COMPUTERS: We live in the computer age, so it should go without saying computers are provided.

This includes both Windows and iOS platforms. It also includes laptops and tablets, because mobile is here to stay. Because modern computing literally fits in your pocket, classrooms now include the tiny Raspberry Pi computer and Arduino kits for mixing coding and circuitry. Add

mat printer, or plotter, for graphic projects that need to “go big.” And in recent years we’ve started providing 3D printers as well — and seen great success.

New installations now include two different kinds of 3D printers.

AUDIO-VISUAL: We like cameras, and we see students do great work with them. Installation specifications include not only a point-and-shoot camera,

but also a webcam, a DSLR camera, professional-grade video camera and tons of production necessities like tripods, a light kit, headphones, an audio kit, MIDI keyboard for original sound production and even a green screen. Newer addi-

wired connections a thing of the past.

SOFTWARE: It would literally take an entire page to list all the software that EAST students have access to, but suffice it to say the commercial price tag would be substantial.

Programs in42” clude profesTV / TV STAND sional standard tools for drafting and design, ANTI-STATIC CARPET GIS mapping, 3D modeling and RACK WITH SWITCH/PATCH rendering, video PANEL and audio proSERVER PHONE duction, photo editing, graphic design, coding, app development LOCKABLE and much, much STORAGE more. In all, more than 60 different PLOTTER software applications in around two dozen diftions include GoPro and ferent fields are available in 360-degree cameras that can EAST classrooms. go almost anywhere.

Believe it or not, that’s not all.

PRESENTATION: EAST chal- Between all the adaptors and lenges students to work cords, external drives and pewith community partners as ripherals, the list is quite exthey develop projects, and tensive. Of course, the most that often involves making important thing to go into a pitches and presentations. new EAST classroom doesn’t To that end, programs are show up on the specs, and equipped with a TV and TV that is the students. They stand for times when they unlock the potential of this need to display their work technology while adding to in a big way. Apple TV their skills to do very special and Chromecast help make things for others. n DOOR

eople unfamiliar with the EAST Initiative often ask what it is we do.

While that’s a complicated question, part of the answer involves establishing and equipping new EAST programs. The specifications of what goes into a new EAST classroom change from year to year to keep up with evolving technology, but they always have the same goal: to provide a broad range of technology with which students can tackle all kinds of community problems. Here’s a look at what will be implemented this year.

SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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SUMMER SEMINAR

BUFFALO

BOUND Summer Seminar is headed to Harrison

BY SPENCER WATSON

S

ummertime doesn’t always mean the living is easy. The EAST Initiative is working hard to offer its facilitators a fun, engaging and useful array of options at this year’s Tech Camp and Summer Seminar. Both will be held at the L.E. “Gene” Durand Center on the Center Campus of North Arkansas College in Harrison July 19-22.

“We really want this to be a great experience for our facilitators, and we value what they have to say about Summer Seminar each year,” said Jessica Dunham, events manager for 6

EAST QUARTERLY | www.EASTinitiative.org

the EAST Initiative. “So we spend the whole year considering their feedback and trying to make additions and improvements for the next year.”

That means several well received features from 2015 will be back for 2016, one of which is the matrix scheduling tool. The matrix was an attempt to overlap and interlock breakout sessions in a way that had not been done before. The goal was to offer multiple sessions of different lengths at the same time and to do it in such a way that participants could pick and choose different sessions to build a schedule that worked for them.

“It seemed to work well for our facilitators, so we are trying that again this year,” Dunham said.

As for breakout session topics, offerings will once again be classified into tracks: facilitation and motivation, classroom tools, technology and community involvement. EAST students, facilitators, industry professionals and EAST staff will offer insights into everything from new technology and classroom best practices to engaging community partners and team building.

While many sessions will feature an opportunity to gets hands-on with

technology, a seminar favorite from last year is being expanded for 2016: the Playground. While many details were still being worked out in late May at press time, the area was already slated to include 3D printing and design, an augmented reality sandbox, Oculus Rift and GoPro demos and Arduino tutorials, with plans for more. EAST students will also be participating to talk about integrating these sophisticated technologies into projects.

“The Playground is a chance for facilitators to not only get firsthand experience with new tech tools like the Arduino, it’s also a chance to take in quick tutorials that count for some professional development credit as well,” said Dunham. “Again, facilitators really enjoyed the Playground last year, so we’re planning to make it even bigger this year.”

Of course, while the point of Summer Seminar is unparalleled professional development opportunities, it’s not without its fun, too. Evening activities will offer a chance for participants to enjoy the locale (details will be an-

On July 19, before Summer Seminar begins, there will once again be a oneday optional Tech Camp. It will feature in-depth explorations of Google tools, story mapping, coding and open source software, among other topics, as well as a video boot camp offered by 2016’s overall Founder’s Award-winning program, Harrison Junior High School. nounced soon on the Summer Seminar website). And, thanks to the support of generous donors, there will be plenty of prizes to hand out as well.

For starters, every participant will take home a Google Cardboard. Filling out surveys and uploading forms though the Summer Seminar website offer entries for more prize drawings, and as of late May, those included gift cards for food, shopping, getaways, professional services and general “swag” — with more to come right up until the event itself.

“Our hope for this event is that facilitators will leave with plenty of ideas to incorporate into their classrooms next year and will be better equipped to help students develop projects that are even more sophisticated and innovative,” said Dunham. “But we also want them to have a lot of fun in the process.” n

SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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BOARD PROFILE

BOARD PROFILE

BRENT STALEY CEO OF STALEY INCORPORATED AND A MEMBER OF THE BOARD FOR THE EAST INITIATIVE INTERVIEW BY SPENCER WATSON

Brent Staley is the CEO of Staley Incorporated (Staley Electric and Staley Technologies), an electrical, network infrastructure and technology deployment firm.

He is a third generation co-owner of Staley, Inc., with more than 20 years’ experience in technology deployment and contracting. He’s a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a degree in business management. He joined the EAST Initiative Board of Directors in September 2015. This year he was named to Arkansas Business’ “40 Under 40” list of the state’s rising leaders in business and politics.

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You are the CEO of Staley Incorporated. I think most of us get that the CEO is “the boss,” but tell me a little about your work. What do you do?

I basically set the direction of the company and see to it that our culture is constantly improving.

Growing up, were you always going to go into the family business? How did you see your career taking shape when you were younger, and how much did your path conform to that plan?

Not at all. My plans were to be a veterinarian or a lawyer. Those ended up requiring too much school! All I knew out of college was that I loved being relational with people and that I had a great work ethic. My family always taught me that if you worked harder than anyone else, you could do anything. When I was younger, I wasn’t concerned about a career path; I just wanted to win. Win the sale, win the account, win the business. I look back now and see a lot of mistakes. Fortunately, I was always surrounded by a humbly confident team. My career path never conformed to any plan.

What do you do for fun? What hobbies and interests do you enjoy?

Anything outdoors. I’m an electrician so strapping on my tools is by far the most fun that I get to have. Not to mention, triathlons and crossfit with my friends, as well as hunting, fishing and camping with my family. If I’m outside, all is good.

From time to time I get the honor of leading small groups of men through discussions about the tough questions of life.

There is never a dull moment on those days!

How did you get acquainted with EAST, and what about it prompted you to accept a position on the Board of Directors?

Mr. Jerry Damerow, the sitting chairman of the board at EAST, is also on Staley Inc.’s board of directors. He and I have a strong friendship in many facets of life, and, through his involvement, I came to understand the importance of EAST as a style of learning. Being in an industry where electrician and technician retirements far outpace new apprentices coming in, it’s imperative that today’s students learn technical, project management and problem-solving skills prior to graduation.

There is a massive labor and employment problem heading our direction, and what we do today will directly impact the severity tomorrow.

You were recently able to experience your first EAST Conference. What particular moments or memories stand out to you from that experience? What expectations did you have going in, and how did Conference differ from those?

The most impactful memory I have is meeting Alexa Donley of Fountain Lake High School. She developed an application called FULFILL that helps people with eating disorders work with their physician to regulate their diet, all the while removing most of the data that people with eating disorders obsess over. What a tremendously valiant cause! Most every single student that I met had way more desire, drive and charisma than I had at their age. I typically don’t have preconceived expectations prior to an event or a first time experience. I’m just along for the ride.

EAST students demonstrate a tremendous amount of technological savvy, but, as an employer, what advice would you offer in terms of an academic path or technical training for students who would like to one day work for Staley Incorporated?

Some of our employees have a college education, some have a four-year apprenticeship in order to earn their electrical license. Regardless of the career you decide to follow, prepare to never be finished learning. This course you have embarked on is the beginning of a lifetime of learning. You’ll never be complete. You’ll never fully graduate. Never, ever, wait for someone to teach you. All of the successful folks at Staley are self-taught in their own discipline. It’s not that they didn’t have help or learn from others, it’s just that they didn’t wait for someone to ask them to learn something. They took initiative. EAST is such a great place to learn this. Once you think your project is complete, there are all the offshoot ideas that need to be tracked down, implemented, and/or handed off to the next class. Business is no different. Every good idea spurs 20 more. If you want to work at Staley in the future, the best advice I can give you is to always be solving problems, work well with others and be willing to fail. The greatest advice I was ever given was, “Son, life isn’t about how long you are on your feet, it’s about how well you get up when you’ve been knocked down!” I know of no other place in the educational system to learn this, other than in an EAST classroom. n SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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FUELING

PASSION

STUDENT TURNS EATING DISORDER INTO APP TO AID OTHERS

BY SPENCER WATSON

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

N

umbers can be scary. Perplexing math problems.

Budget shortfalls. Checkbook balances. All can cause stress. But for recently graduated Fountain Lake senior Alexa Donley, diagnosed two years ago with anorexia, numbers are another kind of nightmare.

“When you have an eating disorder, most people get very hyper-focused on numbers like calories and weight. So it becomes less about what’s healthy and more about how low can I get these numbers,” she said.

That’s hard, she said, because recovery is often focused on numbers.

“During recovery you have to eat more, and if you put that into calories, it can be really triggering. You’re used to eating just a couple hundred calories, but in recovery you could be eating a couple thousand.”

So Alexa took the numbers out of recovery. This year she began developing and coding an app called Fulfill, in which users struggling with an eating disorder can input a plan outlined by a nutritionist — daily servings of dairy, protein, etc. — and never see the plan again. They simply record a meal when they have one, noting servings in each category, and the app represents that on a gauge that moves from empty to full based on their plan’s requirements.

“That’s the hardest thing for me, in my eating disorder, is knowing that I really wasn’t eating too much. Because I just felt like, ‘oh my gosh, I just ate a whole sandwich.’ But with the dials in the app, you would see that’s a positive thing,” Alexa said.

The app was coded in a language called Swift in an Apple-based development suite called Xcode, both of which Alexa

taught herself to use in EAST with online tutorials.

“I didn’t know anything about Swift, so I really just jumped in. It was completely different from what I’ve done before in HTML and CSS.” It’s an opportunity she said she wouldn’t have had without EAST. “EAST is the only class where you have that freedom, if you’re really passionate about something, to just go

Those conversations, she said, have been among the most fulfilling parts of Fulfill, which she hopes to make available publicly — for free — this year as a phone app or website or both.

“Helping other people has really given me a lot of motivation and encouragement to recover, myself. And I’ve learned just how many people are affected by eating disorders. It’s a problem that a lot of people go through. I’m not the only one.”

IT TURNED THIS STRUGGLE THAT’S REALLY KIND OF TABOO AND NO ONE REALLY TALKS ABOUT IT INTO SOMETHING THAT I COULD BE OPEN ABOUT AND HOPEFULLY HELP SOME OTHER PEOPLE OUT. for it and really make a difference. You can’t do that in any other classroom.

This wasn’t something assigned to me that I had to do; I just had a passion for it.”

Translating nutrition into a fuel gauge, she said, was an idea sparked by her doctor, who said taking the numbers out of it would help patients, and her mom, who so often reminded her that “food is fuel” as she worked through recovery. The idea was further refined through an online survey and focus group of fellow students and talking to other people in recovery.

That motivation has, in part, encouraged her to look toward a future in counseling, specifically working with youth with eating disorders.

She will attend the University of Central Arkansas in the fall and plans on majoring in psychology.

Her own journey of sharing, she said, included deciding whether she would submit the app to the EAST Conference 2016 Project Competition, which she ultimately won.

“I was hesitant to enter at first, but as I started getting more feedback and started being more open, I discovered that people were really supportive, and it helped me to be more open about it. It turned this struggle that’s really kind of taboo and no one really talks about it into something that I could be open about and hopefully help some other people out.”

Never was that more apparent than when she won and was surrounded by her school’s conference team in celebration after winning.

“After they took my picture with my award, my whole conference team hugged me and they were congratulating me, and it was really cool because it started off with this struggle that I was so closed about. To go from that silent struggle to being active and proactive about it to getting all this support, it shows how much progress I’ve made and how much of a difference I’m making. It was a really good moment.” n SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

LAW&

ARDOR M

ost people likely don’t think twice about what happens to an old TV or VCR that gets tossed out in an electronics recycling collection. But when students in EAST at Malvern Middle School did, they were surprised.

“We found out that our electronics were being sent to Texas to be processed by inmates, and we learned that we’re losing money from recycling electronics. That was a problem to us,” said eighth grader Abby Braswell, who for two years has headed up Malvern’s Code Green Recycling Project.

The revelation was something of an evolution for the project, which Abby began early last year as a collection and education effort.

id waste authority and learned more about both the recycling process and collection efforts. They researched the nine collection stations in Hot Spring County and what each collects, then used ArcGIS to create a color-coded drop off map for the authority to distribute to residents. Securing donated recycling containers, they also began education efforts in the school and promoted in-school collection contests.

Based on that success, they’ve now started exporting the project, using it as a template to implement collection programs in other Malvern schools, with a goal to have them spread to every school district in the county.

“Students recognized that we didn’t have a recycling program in our school.

As a teacher I agreed that’s definitely something we need. How many tons of paper or plastic bottles do we throw away? So it started out as an honest recognition of a need and problem in our school,” said Heather Meseke, EAST facilitator at Malvern Middle School.

“Last year when this project started, I wouldn’t have thought that it would get this big. And knowing that it’s our project and now it’s going to other schools and making a difference in our community, that’s just cool,” said Piper Bailey, part of the project team and contributor to the GIS map.

It grew from that original idea as students partnered with the county’s sol-

That growth has required a lot of

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meetings with teachers, school administrators, county staff and other government officials, all of which has been a big benefit, students said.

“I think my level of professionalism has gone up a lot. EAST has put so much on me since last year, and that’s great,” said Carson Massey, another Code Green team member. “This experience is getting us ready for what’s coming after school in the real world, and when I think about that, it’s really exciting.”

But as the project expanded, the students started to wonder why the electronics they collected were shipped out of state. The reason, Abby and her team discovered, is that Arkansas law classifies old electronics as hazardous materials, a classification that keeps them

Recycling program leads Malvern Middle School students to Capitol Hill

BY SPENCER WATSON

ing is required. The big obstacle right now is getting an actual dollar amount of how profitable it is in Texas,” said Meseke. “It’s just a lot more research than what we originally anticipated because there are so many different avenues.”

The goal, said students, is to be armed with as much information as possible in order to predict any counter arguments that might arise.

“I’ve learned to be prepared,” said Abby. “We’re definitely thinking about questions and what they’re going to ask.”

out of inmate work programs in state.

So counties pay to ship the electronics to out-of-state prisons where they’re broken down for the precious metals in them, then the prisons sell the metals and keep the revenue.

“If we’re losing money from the way we recycle electronics, why are we still doing it that way? Why are we still sending these off? It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Abby.

In answer, she and her team learned that changing the situation would require nothing short of rewriting state law — so that’s precisely what they’ve set out to do.

“We ended up getting in contact with State Sen. Alan Clark. We met with him and he explained the whole legislative process, and he’s even going to help us start the whole process of writing the bill,” she said.

The team hopes to have a bill to take to the Legislature for the 2017 regular session.

“Right now it’s heavy in the research stage. We’re trying to find out what facilities are required for inmates to process electronics recycling, what train-

In the meantime, that kind of preparation has earned some notice. The team’s project won the 2016 National Service Project Competition at EAST Conference, an invigorating validation of all the hard work, they said.

“I was surprised even at being a finalist, because we’re a recycling project. I know there’s a whole bunch of those,” said Abby.

But few of them grow to the point where they seek to rewrite state law, and that’s something with lasting impact — even if it wasn’t how things got started.

If we’re losing money from the way we recycle electronics, why are we still doing it that way? It doesn’t make sense to me.

“I thought this was going to be a regular recycling project — collections every Friday. And then it just ended up turning around, and I was like wow, how does this change so much?” said Abby.

“I think I’ve learned you have to be ready for anything.” n SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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Harrison program intent on highest achievement

BY SPENCER WATSON

A

t the end of EAST Conference 2015, Harrison Junior High School facilitator Mary Beth Hatch made a decision. Her program was going to win the overall Timothy R. Stephenson Founder’s Award.

At the time she’d just finished her first year in EAST, had not entered students in any Conference competitions and, outside of school, had just had baby number three. It had been a hectic year, to say the least.

But she was inspired in part by the poise of the two students from Harrisburg Middle School who had presented after being named the 2015 Founder’s Award winners. Hatch decided her program could aspire to that highest achievement in EAST. “I got in the car and said, ‘We’re going to win that next year.’ I just knew that I had the students and I had the drive. I knew we could do it,” she said.

She was not wrong, though it was no small feat to become the 2016 winner.

Work began immediately. For Hatch, that meant never shying away from facilitating challenging, ever more so-

phisticated projects and being a tireless promoter of her students’ accomplishments, contacting newspapers, TV and touting them on social media. That, in turn, opened up more project opportunities.

“The kids make the phone calls with clients; we follow all those soft skills rules.

But there are times where part of facilitating is making sure my kids’ stuff is promoted,” she said. “ As a facilitator, your job is that you’ve gotta be proud of your kids. So you promote them and promote what they’re doing.”

Far from feeling overwhelmed by the challenge or the attention, students say it helped them feel validated and taken seriously.

“Because Mrs. Hatch has been able to conjure up so many different meetings and so many different clients we can work with, I’ve never felt underestimated at all,” said Katie Fowler, a ninth grader who is working on a project to create a fully robotic prosthetic arm.

That’s part of why Harrison says they don’t just build partnerships, they build relationships. One of those has been with the National Parks Service, for whom ninth grader Emma Pall made a video documenting different trails along the Buffalo National River. Having those relationships is invaluable, Emma said, but they take work to both cultivate and maintain. And that work fuels her advice for other programs hoping to achieve as Harrison has.

“Don’t settle. You want to keep reaching higher and higher,” she said.

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That sort of thinking without limits is evident in what Harrison students say they’ve gotten out of this past year as well.

“I feel like EAST develops everything you have because you learn many different things, not just about technology but about yourself, too,” said Brooklin Edwards, Katie’s partner on the robotic arm project. “How your work ethic is and really what you want to do with your life. You discover everything about yourself while making a huge impact on your community.”

Still, it’s one thing to aspire and another thing to achieve. Turning out

more sophisticated projects was part of the year’s focus, but so was preparing for Conference, itself. Hatch said they studied the 2015 Harrisburg presentation intently to work on their own and make it unique. They formed a community advisory board and went through presentations with them weeks in advance until they felt fully prepared.

FEATURE STORY

“It’s funny because everyone was like, well, once we get to Conference there’s nothing else to do. It’s all over with,” Hatch said. “But I was like, no it’s not.”

When the announcement finally came, ninth grader Jonathan Hicks, who worked with classmate Bergen Rackley to design a hologram for the Harrison booth that was recognized with the Best of Tech honors in the Best of Conference Awards, said it took a moment for it to sink in. “‘Did we really just do this?’” he said of his first thoughts. “Because it kind of felt surreal to be there in front of so many people, knowing what they’d done. I was extremely impressed with Greenbrier’s booth.”

It would be easy now, since Harrison Junior High is not eligible to win the Founder’s Award again in 2017, to let off the gas and relax a bit. But neither Hatch nor her students intend to slow down.

“For me, it’s not about getting recognition for everything,” said Katie. “We want to keep working on everything, making it better, pushing it higher to the next level.”

“We could relax and say we’ve won and we don’t really have to do very much, but I’m not like that,” said Hatch. “So my thinking is, yeah, we’re not eligible to win Founder’s next year, but we can win everything else!”

It might sound like a lofty goal — but then again, so did going from winning nothing to winning Founder’s.

there for us and trying to help us in any way that she can,” added Katie.

For Emma, her school’s success this year isn’t so much a crown to wear as it is an example others can follow.

“Last year we didn’t win anything, even the little awards,” she said. “So we were really determined to put in the hard work to find things that would make our school stand out and our program stand out. It’s like a little underdog story, you could say, but we’ve proved that just because you come back with nothing doesn’t mean you can’t win later.” n

“Mrs. Hatch has set the bar quite high,” said Brooklin. “There are so many things she’s doing every day for us, and I don’t think we even realize how much time she’s taking out of her day, not just from the school day but after she goes home.”

“It’s amazing to know she works as hard as we do and to know that she is always SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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ALUMNI

W

hen Josiah Brann, project manager and developer at Little Rock-based tech startup Apptegy, was charged with adding talent to the company’s growing sales team, he looked to a former classmate from his days in Kathy Casteel’s Camden-Fairview High School’s EAST program.

When he added another developer to his programming staff, he wasn’t surprised to find out the chosen candidate was 16

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also an EAST alum, this time from Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock.

But realizing another coworker around 10 years older and from Arkadelphia had also been in EAST, too? Well, that was too much.

“When these connections first came up, they were shocked EAST existed when I was in high school,” laughed that older coworker, Sean Ruggles, Apptegy’s di-

rector of client services. “Yeah, I’m not that old.”

Age aside, the fact that all four ended up at the same place — a place that focuses on providing school districts with technology that integrates a mobile app with their websites, automated phone calls, social media and so on all into one platform — should surprise no one, least of all them.

“It did surprise me, but it shouldn’t

have,” said Ruggles. “I see some similarities in all of us: the ability to communicate, to be motivated, ambitious, not needing to be told what needs to be done but figuring it out and getting it done on our own.

Among those first districts willing to take the risk were Arkadelphia and Mountain Pine, also early adopters of the EAST model. Another was Greenbrier, where EAST originated. These are no strangers to seeing what young, innovative minds

video production for Apptegy’s sales team, said much the same.

“In a startup community, it’s very fast paced, very risky, and you don’t know what’s going to work,” he said. “You

Tech startup Apptegy finds many former EAST students in its midst.

Those are things that definitely aren’t coincidental.”

can do with bright ideas and powerful technology.

The not-quite-coincidence wasn’t lost on the company’s CEO, Jeston George, either.

In finding and hiring those minds, Brann said, it makes sense to look to EAST alumni.

“We realized before we knew it, of our first seven or eight employees, four of them were EAST graduates.

That’s something we really like,” he said. “As a startup, we have to rely on young overachievers and try to find the diamonds in the rough. So far, the majority of our diamonds have been former EAST students.”

“The biggest things seeing EAST on a resume says to me is that you know how to work in a team and that you’re very comfortable with a fluid, rapidly changing dynamic and having to adapt. EAST students are problem solvers, go-getters. There’s no task too challenging for someone that has been in EAST, whether it’s looking at the big picture and asking how can we break this down or getting their hands dirty and going into the weeds.”

In fact, in a way, the willing market the company found owes some thanks to EAST, George said. Of course, Apptegy offers a solid product. But George said it was important to him that the company be in Arkansas because “this is home.” Given that, the receptiveness of the client base to trying new things may well have been influenced in part by EAST programs.

“A lot of school districts and superintendents took a chance on us just be-

That tenacity is highly valued in the startup environment, Apptegy employees said.

“This is not the kind of job where you can just show up. We’re having to do things, to come up with solutions,” said We have to rely on young overachievers Ruggles. “That’s similar to an and try to find the diamonds in the rough. very EAST classroom.

So far, the majority of our diamonds have It’s not just a lecture where you’re sitting been EAST students. there receiving information. EAST is cause we’re an Arkansas company, very much the opposite of that, and and they wanted to see it succeed,” this company is very much the oppoGeorge said. “But it’s very hard to site of that.” take a risk on a new business. It’s a lot easier to go with a big, billion Benjamin Berley, the former classdollar company.” mate Brann hired who now does

BY SPENCER WATSON

have to be able to adapt and to change and see the advantages of the change and not fight it. That maturity is exactly what a startup needs, and that’s what EAST gave me.”

For Elizabeth Polk, a web developer and frontend developer for the company

who credits EAST with letting her explore her interest in computer science, the experience also added polish, which ultimately makes the company and its work better.

“I think it helps since I’m a designer. I don’t want to say that nothing’s ever good enough, but nothing’s ever good enough,” she said. “I set such high expectations for myself, and I think EAST made me have those high expectations.”

All four agreed that the aptitude of former EAST students for Apptegy’s environment means they likely won’t be the last alumni the company counts among its ranks. But regardless of where they end up, alumni have a host of options thanks to the hard work they put into EAST. “If everyone had the opportunities I’ve had through EAST, we would live in a more amazing society,” Berley said. n SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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STAFF PROFILE

DEVELOPMENT Staff member came to EAST from (working in a) prison

S

By Spencer Watson

ome students may joke that school sometimes feels like a prison, but James Hopper, development coordinator for the EAST Initiative, can articulate some very real differences between the two from having worked in both worlds. Before coming to EAST in 2013 he worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Herlong, California.

“When you work there, it definitely motivates you to not do anything that would put you in there for any extended period,” said Hopper. “But the psychology of prison was very interesting to me. It’s its own little world and ecosystem that you have to learn how to get along in.”

It was psychology that actually landed Hopper in prison, so to speak. A native of Saginaw, Texas, he majored in psychology at

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Harding University and pursued a master’s in school psychology at the University of Central Arkansas. He had finished the degree and was living in Kentucky when he was offered the job and accepted it sight unseen.

started to take on other special projects, including coordinating the National Service Project in 2014.

“I wanted to stay in the education world,” said Hopper of coming to EAST.

“Being in development means that you’re always asking,” he said. “But that doesn’t always mean you’re asking for money. Sometimes that means you’re asking for somebody to come volunteer. Sometimes you’re asking

“One of the most interesting topics to me had always been service learning. Some of my therapeutic leanings were trying to get students and adults to stop thinking about how bad their life is by getting out and helping others, by flipping the script and pointing out that someone needs your help. I see that all

for somebody to put in a good word for EAST. But you’re always asking.”

Meanwhile, Hopper is always learning, too. In addition to taking on new job responsibilities, he’s also writing a dissertation to complete a doctorate in educational psychology from Walden University. As such, he said he has few hobbies these days.

“They needed to interview me but couldn’t afford to fly me out there, so I interviewed with a prison in Kentucky. The first time I set foot in the Herlong prison was my first day of work there. I’d driven all the way out to Reno and lived in a hotel there for the first week while I was trying to find a furnished apartment to live in.”

His work for the prison was in adult education, overseeing the GED program, continuing adult education and inter-library loans.

“A lot of it was trying to prepare the guys for life on the outside as well as we could,” he said. “So we did a lot of what is called re-entry work, helping them make that transition out.”

It was work that drew on both his background in psychology, figuring out what makes people tick, as well as his experience having taught courses while pursuing his master’s. But advancement within the system meant being willing to move around a lot, so when he and his wife had oppor-

MY APPROACH IS TO TAKE ALL THE SMALL WINS AND BUILD ON THEM.

You set achievable goals that can exponentially increase. tunities for work in her home state of Arkansas, they jumped at the chance.

That’s when Hopper found EAST. “She was looking for nonprofit jobs and ran across EAST. She wasn’t qualified for the job they had posted but thought I might be. I wasn’t aware of EAST from my time in Arkansas. But I had some experience with service learning and education.”

Hopper joined the staff in 2013 working as a STEM coordinator but quickly

the time in what our EAST students do, too. Once they become involved with helping others, they’re much more motivated in general.”

Given that interest in helping others, it may not be surprising that Hopper has recently taken on a new role in EAST, that of development coordinator. His position now involves finding partners to assist in various operations and programs, particularly in grants and fundraising efforts.

Still, as with all things, he looks for the positive.

“There’s a little subfield of psychology called positive psychology.

Instead of talking about people’s problems, you take more of a solution-focused slant to it,” he said.

“That’s my approach, and it’s true for EAST, too. You take all the small wins and build on them. You set achievable goals that can exponentially increase. That’s always been my driving mantra.” n SPRING 2016 | EAST QUARTERLY

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SPRING

EVENTS

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EVENTS

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WINDOWS WORRIES Is Your EAST Classroom Up to Date?

D

WINDOWS 7 OR VISTA

If you are running Windows 7 or Vista, you will have a desktop that looks similar to this one. If you see a round Start button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, then you are more than likely running one of these two operating systems.

id you know that Microsoft has stopped support of some of their operating systems? This may not seem like a big deal, but here’s why it pertains to you. Without the support from Microsoft, your EAST classroom computers may not be receiving updates to the operating system, which leaves it vulnerable to viruses, malware and loss of personal information.

Have no fear, EAST TSG is here!

Let’s take a moment to check which operating system you are running.

WINDOWS XP

If you are running Windows XP, your desktop should look very similar to the one below. One key feature that Windows XP has is the green start button in the bottom left hand side of the screen.

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To determine if you’re running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can go to the Start Menu → Right Click on Computer → Select Properties. There you will see a section that is called Windows edition.

GEEK SPEAK

An outdated OS can mean exposure to potential threats

BY MARISA DAMM

WINDOWS 8 or 10

The next version of Windows introduced the splash screen, which looks similar to the image below. A quick way to tell if you are running a version with the new splash screen is to simply press the Windows Key on your keyboard. If it pulls up a screen similar to this one, you are running a newer version of Windows.

Now, since there are two versions of Windows with the splash screen, let’s determine if you are running Windows 8 or Windows 10.

If you are on your desktop, do you see the Windows logo in the bottom left hand corner of the screen?

If you are running Windows 10, when you click on the windows icon, you will have a Start Menu come up much like the older versions of windows. However, if you are running Windows 8 then you will have the splash screen come up.

WINDOWS 8

Think you’re running Windows 8? Let’s check!

Go to the splash screen → Type in Computer → Right Click on Computer → Go to Properties. You will see a section called Windows edition that will tell you which version of Windows 8 you are running.

WINDOWS 10

Think you’re running Windows 10? Let’s check!

Click on the Windows Key → Type About Your PC → Press Enter.

Look under the PC label for Edition and that should show you which version of Windows 10 you are running.

NOW WHAT?

So now that we know what operating system you are running (if these steps don’t help you figure it out, please contact us and we can help), here’s where you can decide if your classroom needs to change its operating system.

Currently, Windows XP is completely out of support with Microsoft, which makes your classroom vulnerable to all kinds of viruses and malware. Windows Vista is currently out of mainstream support and is no longer being regularly updated and maintained. The extended support for Vista will end April 11, 2017, which again puts your classroom at risk. Windows 7 is out of mainstream support and will be out of extended support on January 14, 2020.

Due to the increase in security issues related to outdated operating systems, the EAST Initiative Technical Support Group has begun supporting Windows 10 in the classroom. We believe that this is a good move to make for our classrooms.

If you’ve followed these steps and feel as though your classroom should be upgraded, please contact TSG via a Help Ticket, and we can give you a checklist of things that need to be done before the upgrade. Also, we will help verify that your classroom has the capability to make the switch!

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CALENDAR

TRAINING

JUNE 2016 6th 7th 8th - 9th 14th 16th 17th 20th 20th-24th

CALENDAR

“Coordinate and Integrate” Google Classroom “Add-on” to Your Google Knowledge Education Unleashed Presentation “Add-on” to Your Google Knowledge “Add-on” to Your Google Knowledge “Coordinate and Integrate” Google Classroom Accelerate Your Classroom with Free Technology Phase I

Hot Springs High School, Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs High School, Hot Springs, Arkansas Springdale Innovation Institute, Springdale, Arkansas EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas Sulphur Rock Magnet School, Batesville, Arkansas Sulphur Rock Magnet School, Batesville, Arkansas Great Rivers Education Cooperative, Helena, Arkansas EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas

JULY 2016 4th 11th-15th 12th 19th 20th-22nd 25th 27th - 28th

Independence Day Phase I Kick the Dust Up: Spice your curriculum up with community involvement and soft skills EAST Summer Seminar Tech Camp EAST Summer Seminar “Coordinate and Integrate” Google Classroom GIS Bootcamp

EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas South Central Education Cooperative, Camden, Arkansas L.E. “Gene” Durand Center, Harrison, Arkansas L.E. “Gene” Durand Center, Harrison, Arkansas DeQueen-Mena Education Cooperative, Gillham, Arkansas EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas

AUGUST 2016 Phase I 1st-5th 22nd-26th Phase I

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EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas EAST Initiative, Little Rock, Arkansas

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GEAR STORE

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bit.ly/EASTgear

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THANK YOU

to all of our sponsors and supporters who help make EAST happen for students.

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EAST STAFF

We asked the staff “If you could go anywhere in the world for a summer vacation, where would you go?”

Matt Dozier

President / Chief Executive Officer Matt@EASTstaff.org

Mary Forst

Chief Financial Officer MaryF@EASTstaff.org

“I’m torn between being able to read books at Dauphin Island or just sleeping on my couch at home.”

“​If given a choice, I would travel throughout Germany to experience the food, culture and beautiful countryside.”

Tami Baker

Sam Byrd

Program Coordinator Tami@EASTstaff.org

Technical Support Group Member Sam@EASTstaff.org

My dream vacation would be for Chris and me to escape (WITHOUT kids) on a fall foliage trip to see the legendary display of colors across the New England states. No schedule, no kids, no worries.

Just my main squeeze and I enjoying each other and taking in God’s awe-inspiring handiwork!

“I would go to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago trail. It’s a trail that takes six days to complete, and it’s the same trail that millions of pilgrims have made since the medieval era. To be a part of that history would be pretty groovy. There are also several unique churches and historic cities along the way. Basically, it’d be an amaiz-ing journey. (Sorry for the corny joke).”

Lori Canada

Lisa Cook

Program Coordinator Lori@EASTstaff.org

Professional Development Coordinator Lisa@EASTstaff.org

“I’ve always wanted to take a European tour. Start in England and go through Ireland, France, Spain and Italy. I want to see all the attractions and eat the local food. Let me take my time and enjoy the experience of each stop along the way.”

“I would go everywhere! I have several stops in mind — like Lucerne, Switzerland, because one of my favorite books The Lions of Lucerne is based here. I would love to hit up nearby Austria and Germany, as well. I also want to go to St. Lucia or Costa Rica next year for my 40th birthday. My husband and I also want to go to Croatia because Anthony Bourdain made the local food look incredible!”

Toni Cook

Adam Crider

Purchasing Coordinator Toni@EASTstaff.org “I think I would pick Sorrento, Italy. Sorrento is a very small town on the southern tip of Italy. I have traveled to several different countries in Europe and Asia, but nothing has ever started to compare with the beauty and simplicity that I experienced in Sorrento. Sorrento is my personal version of heaven on earth.”

Programmer

Adam@EASTstaff.org “I’d hop on the next SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station and hang out there, because gravity.”

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Marisa Damm

Lead Technical Support Marisa@EASTstaff.org

Jessica Dunham Events Manager

Jessica@EASTstaff.org

“I would love to go to a private beach (to make it a vacation, there has to be someone who is cooking and cleaning) where I could spend my days swimming and my nights sitting around a campfire while enjoying time with the people I care about.”

“Hassfurt, the town in Bavaria, Germany, where my mom is from and where we used to spend our summers. I want my husband and son to see that part of my life. It’s home to me.”

Doug Gusewelle

Rinda Hall

Technical Resource Specialist Doug@EASTstaff.org

Program Coordinator Rinda@EASTstaff.org

“I would choose a trip to Japan. I am a huge sushi fan and would love to just sit for a week and eat sushi at Japanese sushi restaurants.”

“I would visit my cousins in Tasmania and Sydney, Australia, during their summer (not ours) so I could thaw out from the winter cold on a beach with a koala peeking over my shoulder. Dream summer vacay!”

Phaedra Hawkins

Beth Hicks

Student Training Coordinator Phaedra@EASTstaff.org

Program Coordinator Beth@EASTstaff.org

“A seven-day Caribbean island tour (visiting different islands), then two days at home to regroup from my vacation.”

“My dream vacation would be a European getaway — perhaps a cruise! — where I would be able to visit several countries, try new experiences and learn about culture and history! ”

Eric Holt

James Hopper

Internet Services Manager Eric@EASTstaff.org

Development Coordinator James@EASTstaff.org

“I want to drive around Cuba in a ‘57 Chevy.”

“I want to go to Thailand. They have Thai food, beaches, elephants, Thai food, a military junta, ancient temples, and did I mention Thai food?’”

Lani Jennings

Cody Jones

Office Coordinator

Lani@EASTstaff.org “I have always read about the fairytale landscapes of Ireland and dream of going there someday.”

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Staff Accountant Cody@EASTstaff.org “I would go to Antarctica and run the Antarctic Ice Marathon. It might be hard for me to convince my wife that this is, indeed, a dream vacation, though.”

Dave Lewis

Jerry Prince

Designer

Senior Director of Program Services

Dave@EASTstaff.org

Jerry@EASTstaff.org

“I’d love to travel to Europe. More specifically Rome and other parts of Italy. I like to think Italy would be where I’d spend most of my European trip. I think mainly because of pizza. Really, I base all my decisions in life on whether or not pizza will be there.”

“Outer Cayes of Belize. No wifi, no cellphones, no traffic, no TV, no dogs barking, no dress shirt and tie, no babies crying, no nothing — just the sun shining and the ocean breezing.”

Melanie Ridlon

Tim Stephenson, Founder

Senior Director of Operations

Program Coordinator

Melanie@EASTstaff.org

Tim@EASTstaff.org

“If I had all of the resources needed, I would drag my family of five to New Zealand to hike, kayak and explore.”

“Coco Plum Caye Belize, a private island. Great food, great folks.

Only 10 cabins on the island, and everyone knows everyone. Day trips to all kinds of cool places.”

Tim Van Dusen

Mason Graves

Network Manager

Development Intern

TimV@EASTstaff.org

Mason@EASTstaff.org

“San Francisco, San Francisco, always San Francisco.”

“I have always wanted to go on vacation to Antarctica because I think it would be so cool to see wildlife in its natural habitat, wildlife that has not been ruined by human industrialization.”

Spencer Watson

Communications Manager Spencer@EASTstaff.org “As much time as I spent studying Roman history, it would have to be the Eternal City. Of course, I’d also make time for side trips to northern and southern Italy to take in their history.

And their food.”

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