Summer 2021 EAST Quarterly

MEET DAVID SAAVEDRA Q & A with the inaugural recipient of the EAST Student Scholarship

GEEK SPEAK

EAST Students at Lakeside High School - Hot Springs place in national cyber security competition

Summer 2021 QUARTERLY

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THE DIRECTOR’S GRANT A gift from the EAST Board of Directors will provide new technology and opportunities in EAST Classrooms

The Highlights EAST Facilitators’ Service Recognized 10 Year Recipients Annette Smith - Mansfield High School Paul Miller - Oaklawn Stem Magnet School Josh Worthy - Sonora Elementary School Jeff Risner - Joe T. Robinson High School (not pictured) Catherine Holland - Mt. Vernon-Enola High School (not pictured)

5 Year Recipients Kelly Martin - Ahlf Junior High School Jake Cale - Bentonville West High School Andrew Killingsworth - Berryville High School Dorothy Ivey - Gentry Intermediate School Allison Aday - Kiamichi Technology Centers - Eufaula High School Rob Plant - Mineral Springs High School Leeann Mobley - Morrilton Senior High School Melissa Muse - Founders Classical Academies of Arkansas West Little Rock Derek Ratchford - Sonora Middle School Kevin Billings - Strong-Huttig Schools Jared James - Greenland High School Abigail Farrell - J.O. Kelly Middle School Jennifer Hightower - Cedarville High School Kelly Regan - Harrison High School Conversion Charter Dennis Troutman - Little Rock Southwest High School Joseph Alderman - Mountain Pine High School Lynette Curzon - Westwood Elementary School Allen Landry - Osceola High School

For more EAST Seminar highlights visit EASTseminar.org!

Zach James - Sylvan Hills High School Elisa Kifer - Valley View Junior High School Chuck Hollis - Crossett Middle School

When I first started writing editor’s notes, I looked at other magazines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

and tried to model mine after cool editors like Nina Garcia of Elle and Anna Wintour of Vogue. I had never written one before (or edited a podcast for that matter). EQ wasn’t ever about fashion, but EAST has always been about setting trends so it made sense in my mind. As I pen this last editor’s note, a few of EAST’s power words come to mind.

Transformative - Being a part of EAST has transformed my communication skills and my thought process, but most importantly it transformed my confidence in my ability to do hard things.

Discover - EAST gave the platform and support needed to discover hidden talents and strengthen areas of growth.

Inspire - The entire EAST network has inspired me to get focused and remember my why as I decide things for my personal and professional life Imagine - I’ve always had a really vivid imagination and somewhere along the way with adulting and life, I stopped imagining … or even dreaming. I’m glad to say EAST allowed and encouraged me to do that again!

As we fall back into routines for class, practice, work, etc, remember, life is one big EAST project and if you participate with an open mind, it can transform you, help you discover your passions, inspire you to live your dreams, and offer you the support to imagine a new one.

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MEET DAVID SAAVEDRA

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GEEK SPEAK

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THE ORIGINAL EAST STUDENT

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THE ART OF COLLABORATION

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And just for fun’s sake, I am Apryl Jackson, and this is your EAST Update!

Inaugural EAST Student Scholarship Recipient

Cyber Security with Lakeside High Hot Springs

Max Young, EAST Alumni

When student and facilitator unite for success

THE DIRECTOR’S GRANT A gift from the members of the Board of Directors

Apryl Jackson Communications Coordinator

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MAGAZINE TEAM Editor - Apryl Jackson Designer - Kristen Farmin

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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.

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All copyrights are recognized and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review.

Read this and previous issues online at news.EASTlink.me/EQ SUMMER 2021 | EAST QUARTERLY

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Q&A

with David Saavedra

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eet David Saavedra, 2021 Clinton High School graduate. He is also the very first recipient of the EAST Student Scholarship. This scholarship was created and endowed by the EAST Board of Directors and EAST Staff to recognize outstanding EAST students who have made a difference in their communities during their K-12 career. EAST prides itself on offering quality support to students and wanted to make sure they continued to feel that support as they transitioned from an EAST student to EAST alumnus.

Q: EAST program you were a part of and for how many years:

I have been in EAST since middle school; EAST at Green Forest Middle School for one year and EAST at Clinton High School for four years.

Q:

Do you feel like any of those experiences prepared you for college and the job market?

I feel like EAST prepared me in some ways for college, the job market, and life in general, by teaching me essential skills such as working with clients, writing formal emails, working on projects as a team member or leader, among other things.

Q: Describe how you felt when you learned that you would be the first EAST student scholarship recipient?

know about EAST?

When I learned that I would be the first EAST student scholarship recipient I was surprised, shocked, and thankful.

I would like them to know that EAST is an exceptional program that will help you grow as a person and develop a large set of skills by using resources that, otherwise, you wouldn’t have easy access to.

Q: Tell us where you will be attending

Q: What advice would you give to a

Q:

college this fall, what you will major in, and what you hope to accomplish with this degree.

My experience in EAST has so far been the best experience I’ve ever had in school. One of the things that I love about EAST is that you can use any of your skills to help others.

EAST allowed me to express my creativity and work on things that I like, such as designing and making things in popular software. It also gave me access to resources that I didn’t have in other classes and made me aware of the skills I had to solve realworld problems.

I’ll be attending Bluegrass Community & Technical College and majoring in electrical engineering. I plan to leverage the knowledge that I will acquire to improve the world by founding companies and developing technologies that will help fix top-world problems such as climate change, health care, food waste, etc.

How would you describe your experience in EAST?

Q: What would you like the world to

student in EAST graduating soon?

Take full advantage of the EAST program!

Make sure to use your time in EAST wisely and take as many opportunities as you can.

And as Steve Jobs said, “Stay hungry, stay foolish,” meaning never be satisfied, and always push yourself and be willing to do the things people say cannot be done.

You can donate to the EAST Student Scholarship fund & support students just like David at supportEAST.org To learn more about the EAST Student Scholarship visit EASTlink.me/scholarship

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EAST QUARTERLY | EASTinitiative.org

EAST CEO & President Matt Dozier presents David Saavedra with the first EAST Student Scholarship on July 6, 2021 via Zoom.

Education

Continued!

Scholarship Shoutouts

Elise Gasaway Congratulations, Elise! Elise Gasaway received a

Ella Layton Congratulations, Ella! Ella Layton is the recipient of the

$1,500 EAST Scholarship to the University of Central Arkansas. She graduated from Vilonia High School after participating in EAST for 4 years. She plans to major in nursing at UCA.

Dr. Mary Lowe Good Legacy Scholarship. Ella attended EAST at Valley View High School and has 128 hours of community service. She also dedicated her time as an EAST Student Champion and an EAST Day of Giving Team Captain. She exemplified everything that EAST stands for: service, collaboration, and leadership. Ella plans on pursuing a degree in Physics at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Honors College.

Did you or someone you know receive an EAST scholarship? If so, we would love to give you a shoutout. Please email us at communications@EASTstaff.org.

SUMMER 2021 | EAST QUARTERLY

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GEEK SPEAK! Cyber Security at Lakeside High School-Hot Springs

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AST prides itself on preparing and producing students better equipped to handle the demands of the job market.

Cyber security is a profession that requires proficiency in coding and problem-solving to protect our technical infrastructure from everything from annoying viruses to theft or loss of critical information. On a larger scale, the need for cyber security professionals nationally is increasing by the day.

Individuals committed to providing cyber security require a certain amount of tenacity and the EAST students at Lakeside High School-Hot Springs have managed to demonstrate that tenacity and earn some bragging rights along the way.

According to the official CyberPatriot website, CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. ​At the core of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that puts high school and middle school students in charge of securing virtual networks. Other

programs include AFA CyberCamps, an elementary school cyber education initiative, a children’s literature series, and CyberGenerations–a cyber safety initiative geared toward keeping senior citizens safe online.

A team of EAST students known as the Downloadable Rams from EAST at Lakeside High School-Hot Springs performed well among their peers when competing in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. These students, Evan Meyers, Adrian Erias, and Easton Russell, demonstrated their skills by finishing in the top 25% globally during that 2020-2021 school year; that’s 300th place out of 6,000 teams.

Lakeside was labeled as a Platinum competitor during the competition deeming their coding and problem solving skills top tier. With multiple rounds in place to narrow down the brightest minds in the competition, Lakeside finished second in the state.

The students received an “image” during each round of competition. These images contain entire operating systems.

Through a program called VMWare, a virtualization and

>> For more information about the

competition visit USCyberPatriot.org

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cloud computing software that allows multiple virtual machines to run on the same physical server, competitors can open the images and have control over the operating systems. The CyberPatriot organizers create a number of vulnerabilities and install malware on the images. Malware is intrusive software that is designed to damage and destroy computers and computer systems. Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software. Examples of common malware include viruses, worms, Trojan viruses, spyware, adware, and ransomware. It is the competitors’ job to go in and make the operating system as secure as possible as quickly as possible.

Evan Meyers, captain of Lakeside’s CyberPatriot team described how the past two years competing has improved him as a person in several ways.

“As the team’s leader, I was the person who kept the team motivated and organized through the different rounds.We created a Google Doc with tons of resources and links to websites containing information about key problems we could face during competition days. Aside from my growth as the team leader, the program itself has allowed me to explore and learn many skills useful to the cyber security career field. The competition heavily focuses on the defensive side of cyber security, a useful skill desired by most businesses and companies during this electronic era. Through CyberPatriot my eyes have been opened to the possibilities, and subsequently vulnerabilities, of technology and how to increase the security of the devices I use in my everyday life.”

With two years of experience under their belt, the Downloadable Rams of EAST at Lakeside are primed and ready not only to be champions of the CyberPatriot competition, but also for the workforce.

Each member on the team is already exploring cyber security jobs while they attend college.

Follow EAST at Lakeside Hot Springs on Facebook!

mal•ware /′malwer/ software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.

>> For more information about the

Malware & VMware visit Cisco.com

THE ORIGINAL EAST STUDENT

MEET

MAX YOUNG,

Corporate IT and Help Desk Specialist at the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, LLC. Max is an EAST legend. He is among the first few students that experienced EAST before it even had a name. Max attributes his open mindset and career in STEM to the seeds planted during his time as a student in the classroom of EAST founder, Tim Stephenson. Read on for a firsthand account of how this Class of 1998 Greenbrier High School graduate continues to live the EAST ideals through his day-to-day actions.

Hi,

I am Douglas Max Young, but please, call me Max. I have been involved in various forms of STEM/STEAM for the last 23 years professionally. I have worked with mechanical, wireless, and electrical engineers, artists, designers, developers, toxicologists, epidemiologists, pilots, first responders, and various other agencies and trades. I spent 10 years in the cellular industry alone. Currently, I work with the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH, LLC) which is a branch of the multinational Montrose Environmental Group Inc (NYSE: MEG).

We live on the cutting edge of technology as it relates to our industry. We make use of tools such as Boston Dynamics SPOT robot dog, DJI Drones, Balloon aerial photography, FLIR, Rae Systems Multi-Gas and VOC detectors and monitors, mass spectrography and many other innovative and exciting technologies. None of this would have been possible without the intervention of opportunity through the EAST program, and, particularly Mr. Tim Stephenson.

I had troubles at home going into my junior and senior years and found myself acting out in response to those stressors. After making a few bad decisions at school, I faced expulsion or my agreed participation in a new program, which was not even called EAST yet. Back then, it was just a big experiment where Tim Stephenson took some of the knuckleheads like me and paired us with some more well-behaved and more scholastic peers. Before solutions like 3-D printing and other high-end peripherals were commonplace, we were doing computer-assisted design with basic single pen plotting output. Mind you, at this point, I had already hacked the school’s older terminal systems and caused some upset, all without getting caught, so in hindsight, I am not sure it was so smart to put me in that class. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. If any of my old teachers ever wondered who sent a broadcast alert message “Loki Rules!!!” to every networked PC in the school simultaneously back in 1997, look no further. Mystery solved. I am sorry about that by the way. I did not know, however, that the message was also going to quintuple beep the speaker system on every networked NAME: Douglas Max Young II computer simultaneously. That was an added bonus.

High school is already one of the most emotionally charged times of a young person’s life and when you have a young person who is going TITLE/PROFESSION: IT Help Desk through things at home that ended up being exhibited through poor choices Specialist /Corporate IT and behaviors at school, you are likely to have an “interesting” story. My EAST PROGRAM: EAST at first memories, of what is now known as EAST, were sitting in rooms Greenbrier, Class of ‘98 where we worked in small groups. Josh Risk was one of the first people to take me under his wing and show me how to start designing in CAD. CONTACT MAX: myoung@cteh.com At that time, we were using Intergraph computers. Josh has been working in the engineering field for over 20 years and is now finishing his degree

in mechanical engineering. We are still friends after all these years, and I am proud to see him looking at prospects like SpaceX. I ended up being highly successful in the program and because of this I was able to do some traveling with Tim Stephenson and Jim Wells around the nation to places like Texas A&M, Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal, and a trip to Maryland and Washington DC for a specialized symposium for secondary education. Going to the Redstone Arsenal at the NASA Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama was always my favorite time in EAST.

Showing off one of the first GIS projects produced by Vanessa Krisel was exciting. Former governor Mike Huckabee came to see Greenbrier’s EAST program but was particularly interested in our project. We received $30,000 in grant money based on that work. It moved the governor to tears. He had just attended the funerals of several firemen in the state that had lost their lives to unforeseen dangers in a building. That drove home to me just how important and real world these projects could be. I had many family members who were first responders, including my brother (State Police), my uncle (Little Rock Fire Chief), and my father (State Police).

I thought about them when we were developing ideas for heads-up displays with augmented reality to show interior maps of places with hazards highlighted on the unit.

Our tech was kid’s stuff compared to what students have access to today. Augmented reality is commonplace now.

The spirit of EAST lives on in everything I do professionally. The approach taught through the EAST program, that I know as, is “figure it out” and “make it happen.” No better philosophy could be taught to a young person who is entering the professional workforce. When I go to work, there are many times where exotic and novel issues arise. The critical thinking skills and processes that I learned through my participation in the program have allowed me to outpace many of my peers in my career paths. In my wireless career, I was the guy that upper leadership came to when they did not know anyone else who could solve the problem they were facing. There is nothing special about me; however, there is something special about the way I learned to approach and tackle issues. That special something is the EAST program and the skills and

philosophies that I garnered through that experience. I learned to pick up the phone and call professionals and mentors who had the goods or knowledge that could help me tackle problems that I had chosen to address. Today, the Internet is far more robust than it was back then; young people have it much easier when trying to gather knowledge to address an issue.

However, interpersonal communication remains a critical part of a successful EAST experience. Just finding the courage to start that communication is the hardest part. But once you find it, your world will change for the better. I live in a world where I am fearless about talking to anyone regardless of their title or claim.

I think that it is critically important that the community at large understands the importance of the program. Young people are such an asset, and communities are filled with opportunities for improvement.

The more community involvement that happens, the more press that happens around it, and the more involvement that can spur from such philanthropic ventures, the better. Crowdsourcing solutions is one of the most effective ways of solving problems. Here we have a program that thrives on that fact. It saddens me when I speak to parents who have no idea their students are participating in EAST. I am hoping to help change that in multiple ways. That change also needs to happen in the classroom by getting parents and mentors involved with the students while in the program. This involvement will be critical to the success of EAST!

I enjoy watching this program evolve. Like many things in life, many of the tools will change, many of the faces will change, but the core mission and philosophies will never change. I am hoping to see an EAST project on a ride to space. Virgin Atlantic, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and many other ventures are out there right now with the technology to take our students and their projects literally out of this world. I would love to see more aerospace and remote sensing projects and see more students on a track to aerospacerelated technology fields. Not only would I like to see our students or their projects reaching space, but also the depths of the ocean. I am sure there are schools close

enough to the seaboard that could do projects to better preserve our oceans and the life therein.

EAST is an evolution of the traditional classroom. Do not stop evolving.

In every living system there lies an X factor.

Be that factor. Be different. If what you are doing feels too scripted, does not inspire you, does not drive you or keep you awake at night thinking about it sometimes, then stop what you are doing, reevaluate and start again with something new that does inspire and excite you. There are always going to be projects and assignments that help you learn the tools that may not be the thing you dreamed about doing, but once you have a solid grasp of the technology and the need, be bold and go big, and use those tools for things that they were both designed and not designed to do. Find ways to turn old tools into new tools. At my company, we took our custom software CARBON that was designed for mapping disaster zones and tracking chemical levels, and re-developed it into a system to work with Hollywood and Nashville production companies to track COVID-19 testing events and their corresponding results.

We have doctors and nurses around the world working with the film, television and music industries. They are working with everyone from A-list actors and singers to the folks that sweep the floors and feed the crews. Our people are working to ensure that everyone who is keeping the entertainment industry alive is staying safe and healthy. I love this company. It was a godsend just like the EAST program was a godsend. I was very proud to learn that both our Director of Technology and our Chief Executive Officer have their young adults in the EAST program.I would love to connect with other people I know with family members in EAST and to learn more about their projects.

SUMMER 2021 | EAST QUARTERLY

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The Art of

Collaboration: An EAST S tu dent Perspective

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t EAST headquarters we may not get the day-to-day interaction with the amazing EAST students right now, but we definitely love to hear the stories of how they impact each other, community partners, and facilitators. Ella Layton, EAST alumna, and Ashlea MacAlister EAST facilitator, of Valley View High School, shared a little bit of their unique journey and how collaboration and support helped them be successful!

+ How it all begin...

Let me start by explaining what was going on in my life when I was hired as the Valley View High School (VVHS) EAST facilitator. It was the end of Summer 2020, and the world as we knew it was drastically changing. After ten years as an on-again-off-again college student, I virtually graduated with a Bachelor of Science, Engineering degree in English, and a minor in Writing Studies. I planned to stay at home with my two-year-old and continue my college journey with a Master’s of some sort. My friend and mentor teacher told me about the EAST position opening - but I had no clue what EAST was, or what the class was about. One Zoom interview later and just like that, I became the VVHS EAST Facilitator. I don’t think I had time to stop and be scared or nervous, because everything happened so quickly. It was a whirlwind experience, to say the least.

The former EAST facilitator and I met to discuss the job and he informed me there was one person I could count on, Ella Layton. I wrote her name in my notes and immediately felt relieved when I learned this would be her sixth year in EAST. It was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders learning there was someone who had that much experience, but to then find out how dedicated Ella was to EAST was the greatest surprise. I can confidently say our EAST program would not be what it is without Ella. Her commitment and passion let me know that she would always be a friend of EAST. Ella was much more than my Student Champion, she was my biggest supporter, confidant, right-hand woman, and friend when I needed it. I was learning along with my students every day, and Ella made that special.

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+ When Ashlea met Ella...

I’m very proud to say I’ve been in EAST for six years. During my time in EAST, I had five different facilitators, and three of them were brand new. Being experienced in EAST, it was a goal to share things I’d seen be successful, and things that were not so successful.

For example, at the beginning of the school year, some students are also new to EAST and still need to get an understanding of what EAST encompasses. Outside of helping the facilitator figure out what an average day in EAST looked like, I made sure to help them plan for events like the EAST Conference. I suggested introducing projects very early to the class. Students are more interested at the beginning of the year and want to start something fun or new. Next was the brainstorming period; team-building activities helped us as students become closer to each other and the facilitator. Once projects start to pick up, the facilitator is typically less handson.Then I’d begin helping them become familiar with the class inventory and teaching them about some of the technologies. The first semester of EAST can be a challenge, but it is smooth sailing once we get a rhythm.

I first met Mrs. McAlister at the open house meeting before school started, and I said I would be there to help with whatever I could.

Once the year started, I learned that she was only hired a few weeks before then and had not had any training or even knew what EAST was. She was the first facilitator I had worked with that was not familiar with EAST. Along with learning what EAST was, we together had to find a way for students who were virtual to have an EAST experience. It was a challenge at first to find the balance between virtual assignments and projects in class and to have some uniformity with students who opted to do virtual school. We worked together to tackle the strangest school year ever.

The most important thing I have learned is that new facilitators will have many questions, and being there as a resource for all things EAST had to be my goal. My advice to any new facilitator reading this is to take things one step at a time and find a student with experience in EAST to guide you through your first year. Having someone by your side will make things much easier.

Ashlea McAlister, Facilitator

Ella Layton, EAST Alum

+ In the classroom…

Ashlea: The classroom was definitely strange this past year - with mandated masks, social distancing, and smaller class sizes due to virtual learning - but I don’t think that hindered the community aspect of the class. We were all learning and growing together. A lot of the learning and growing I did was with my veteran students, especially Ella. I came into this role without much knowledge and zero experience, but what I lacked, Ella made up for, and then some.

She taught me everything she knew and supported every crazy idea I had. It is my duty and pleasure to support all of my students, but to also be supported by your students is the icing on the cake.

Ella: The biggest thing we did to support each other was getting to know each other as friends, basically having a deeper relationship than just a student facilitator relationship. We would discuss and help each other out with things going on outside of Valley View.

If there was any new project request or message from EAST headquarters, we always made sure both of us knew what it was and we made a plan together to accomplish our new task. Being there for each other was key to our relationship.

Ashlea: The development of projects this past year was kind of all over the place. We had projects that were ongoing from previous years (Ella’s Bone Builder), projects that came from entering a competition, projects that came from the school, and projects that came about organically. Some projects would come from discussions about community problems, team-building activities we did, or from a student being passionate about something in particular.

Ella: The hardest aspect of developing projects was designing an EAST-like curriculum for virtual students. We made sure to talk about things important to EAST such as learning soft skills and some technologies. When Valley View started the eco-home project, the virtual students did assignments about sustainable living and types of other eco homes. For in-class activities, we would use some of the same activities from facilitator Phase training. Doing these activities allowed Mrs. McAlister to know the desired outcome of an activity in a class she was not very familiar with.

Ashlea: I would check in with Ella daily to find out what she thought about this and that, or ask her “has anyone tried this,” etc.

She was my right-hand woman, and I bounced everything off of her. I constantly picked Ella’s brain to maximize our relationship, especially since last year was her Senior year. I knew my most valuable asset would be leaving me, but I couldn’t be happier to have her on my side during the last year. It was also amazing that she was in my 7th period, so everything was fresh on my mind from the day.

+ Final thoughts: Ashlea: I had no idea what it meant to be a facilitator when I was hired and with a year’s experience I still have much to learn; however, I am privileged to have Ella in my corner to support me. I can only hope my students feel the love and support I have for them.

Lastly, I want to congratulate Ella on everything she accomplished last year in EAST as the VVHS Student Champion, EAST Day of Giving captain, winner of the 3D Print It Up competition at EASTCon21, and now the recipient of the Dr. Mary Lowe Good Legacy Scholarship! Ella is such a hard worker and has the most humble heart - I truly lucked out being her teacher.

Ella: After many years in EAST, I have gotten to work with many different people on many different things. I have learned so much that will help me in the future. Working with Mrs. McAlister my senior year allowed me to pass on my knowledge and skills gained through EAST to someone who will hopefully stay with Valley View EAST for many years. I plan on keeping in touch with Mrs. McAlister and still being available to answer any questions she or her new students may have about EAST.

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John Riggs, Chairperson, announces The Director’s Grant to EAST facilitators at EAST Seminar on July 21, 2021.

EAST BOARD ANNOUNCES GIFT TO SCHOOLS

BY MADELINE CHOSICH

E

AST isn’t just in the classroom. It’s wherever the students are at any given time,” Aaron David, former Manager of Technical Services for EAST, said at the annual EAST facilitator training professional development event, EAST Seminar, held in July. We learned just how many shapes and sizes classrooms come in during the pandemic.

Our communities are tough, and the EAST community is no exception. In a gesture of appreciation for their dedication and in support of the EAST mission, the EAST Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Director’s Grant for the 2021-2022 school year. Their intent is to allow EAST students to broaden their impact.

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The Board of Directors and the EAST Staff looked for ways to use some of their funds to provide their own meager “stimulus” to the EAST programs.

“We needed to invest, but not in stock or bonds or bonuses. We chose to invest in the EASTlings,” John Riggs, Chairperson to the EAST Board of Directors, said. “And when this all came about, I truly felt like we were doing something good, something that could change a kid’s life.”

Schools who received the Director’s Grant will be welcoming new technology to their EAST classrooms over the coming weeks. That technology will have an internal and an external impact in their communities.

There is no doubt that the Director’s Grant will have a profound impact on the EAST community. As Prince said, “The resources made possible by this grant will give more tools to the students and potentially better access to some of the tools formerly only available in the confines of the EAST Classroom. We are excited to see old problems solved, new problems discovered and the positive results that can come from this investment.”

Internally, EAST is working on putting together a dedicated production studio at the EAST training center. EAST has also invested in a learning management system, video editing platforms, Padcaster studio kits, and more. The technology going into the classrooms includes Adobe Creative Cloud licenses, Amazon AppStream technology, BlackMagic ATEM Mini Live Pros (a professional grade video streaming device), and additional devices to make learning on the go a more accessible concept.

JERRY PRINCE

Taken altogether, these tools will allow for greater access and connectivity.

Students can connect to software anywhere they are working. They can broadcast out to the universe with the BlackMagic devices, and they will have access to a growing repository of content created by EAST and its supporters.

It is a significant step toward the future of how EAST students will interact with the world around them.

“We were given an opportunity to do something that we really have never been able to do,” Jerry Prince, Vice President of Information Technology, said. “I’ve been with EAST for over 17 years. We’re a frugal bunch. We squeeze every dime that we can out and make it go as far as possible. This is an opportunity that led us to dream big, and then even bigger.”

“Facilitators: you all are my heroes … I hope over the next few months as you use this new technology that you’ll let us know if it’s making a difference in that classroom. That’s what we intended to do,” Riggs said. “The EAST Board is there for you. We come from all different backgrounds, from electricians to insurance salesmen, higher education workers, architects and a wannabe organic farmer. And we all came together in support of this.”

Cameron Magee, owner of Avad3, gives instructions on using BlackMagic ATEM Mini Live Pros at EAST Seminar.

Like Sisyphus, we’ll keep rolling the boulder. EAST will continue to encourage students to open their minds and push boundaries, no matter what comes their way. EAST isn’t just in classrooms, EAST is everywhere.

SUMMER 2021 | EAST QUARTERLY

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Join a network of like-minded Friends of EAST volunteers by visiting

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FRIENDS OF EAST

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EAST QUARTERLY | EASTinitiative.org

FACILITATORS

STUDENTS

Thanks to a mentor, I discovered at an early age my life-long passion for Video & Event Production. The mentorship I considered rare and unique, EAST gives to thousands of students every single day. When I look at EAST facilitators I see my mentor. When I look at EAST students I see thousands of future successful adults who will look back and attribute the path they’re on to the clarity they gained in EAST.

-Cameron Magee Owner of

THANK YOU

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

SUMMER 2021 | EAST QUARTERLY

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6215 Ranch Dr. Little Rock, AR 72223 501.371.5016 EASTinitiative.org communications@EASTstaff.org

Read this and previous issues online at news.EASTlink.me/EQ

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1.

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2.

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Search for Environmental and Spatial Technology, Inc. Select this as your charity.

EAST Initiative

EAST Initiative

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