San Francisco, U.S.A. — Guerrilla Green is a growing movement of frustrated young people tired of waiting for sustainable transformation in the built environment. The place they spend most of their time, the school campus, is usually built with little care to future generations and in some cases contain toxins that increase the risk of cancer in students and teachers.

As more schools push for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) very few give an outlet for practical and tangible results. We’re changing that. This inaugural sustainable showdown invites teams of middle and high school students across the U.S. to bring innovative solutions to their school buildings, outdoor spaces and activities.

Using a ‘bracket style’ competition the top eight teams will compete to win their region before battling for the grand prize of ten grand. We are not just highlighting and honoring ideas, we’re investing in them with over $30,000. This money empowers the students with direct action, not only to imagine but to implement. Surprise jury members will be announced every day starting October 24. The group includes a 19 year old filmmaker, a 21 year old eco-pioneer, an emerging TV and film actor and many more.

Cameron Sinclair, ‘Chief Eternal Optimist’ of Architecture for Humanity and former TED Prize winner, argues that “the only difference between a good idea and a great one is implementation. I came up with Architecture for Humanity when I was a kid, and it took over a decade before I found the support to launch it. We can’t wait while the innovative ideas sit on the shelf, so we are helping to fund the Guerrilla Green Sustainable Showdown and in turn invest in what matters, the environmental leaders of tomorrow.”

Additional funding has been provided by Youth Rock The Rebuild, a group of school rock bands who have raised funds for rebuilding in Haiti and Japan as well as local initiatives. Support has also been garnered from the Bezos Family Foundation, The Department of Small Works and Teens Turning Green.

Are you a teenager? Do you know a teenager? Have you seen a teenager? Register and submit the next great green solution for a chance to collect up to $13,000, submit it at bit.ly/hackitgreen then talk it up on our Facebook page and Twitter @guerrillagreen. Snap it up on Pintrest and Instagram. Each venue gives your team more exposure and more money (mini challenges to come). So Green into it!

For more information, visit bit.ly/hackitgreen or join in at Twitter @guerrillagreen and Facebook.

The article $30,000 in Grants for Teens with Great Green Ideas appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

London, United Kingdom – IBC announces that international recording artist, technologist, entrepreneur, will.i.am, has chosen the IBC2012 Conference as a key platform to inspire the world’s electronic media professionals.

Co-hosted by Intel Corporation’s Johan Jervoe, will.i.a.m will lead the IBC2012 Convention keynote.

Titled ‘Creativity and Technology Forces Combine – Transcend the Barriers of Convention and Rethink What Can Be Achieved’, this thought-provoking session will examine the role of technology in the creative process. Illustrated with personal stories and illustrations from their careers, it will show how the application of new technology can be a catalyst for new thinking and positive change and be key to surmounting barriers.

“We want people to rethink what they believe is possible,” says seven-time Grammy Award winner, will.i.am. “I’m always thinking about tomorrow. What are the new beats? What is the new music? What will people like? What will we be capable of doing? Technology allows us to amplify our ideas, amplify our creativity, and find new ways of solving our problems and genuinely start living in those future tomorrows, and that’s what I want to share at IBC.”

Engaging his fans via social media while on tour, or starring in top-rated television programs, will.i.am is an adept user of social media tools. In today’s multi-screen viewing environment, broadcasters need to embrace current and evolving communications and community building tools to build, connect with and retain audiences.

As a musician, producer, director and advocate for STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education, will.i.am is an enthusiastic user of technologies in both his professional and personal lives. In recognition of his ability to harness technology to enhance entertainment, creativity and communication, Intel Corporation appointed will as Director of Creative Innovation in January, 2011.

In this unique role, he collaborates with Intel scientists, programmers and marketing team members on a company-wide basis to innovate and promote inspiring content, technology and hardware strategies.

Co-host Johan Jervoe is vice president of the Sales and Marketing Group and director of Partner Marketing for Intel Corporation. The Partner Marketing team at Intel is responsible for innovative co-marketing relationships and programs such as the links with will and other people and organisations (such as The Creators Project partnership with Vice Magazine). Partner Marketing also engages with a series of major brands and media partners like Facebook, Google, and DreamWorks Animation. Jervoe is also co-author of the Manual of International Marketing.

“We’re enormously pleased that will.i.am and Johan Jervoe will be speaking at the IBC Conference,” says Michael Lumley, IBC’s Conference Chair. “It’s a true testament to the strength and breadth of the Conference that it can attract speakers of their international calibre, and we are fascinated to see how their thoughts on technology and creativity will contribute to the global debate about fostering innovation.”

This keynote promises to provoke and challenge while offering a unique and fascinating insight into the creative process that inspires one of today’s best known and most successful artists.

Book your pass for this session at: www.ibc.org/registernow. Entry is free for registered press. The session takes place on Friday 7 September at 14.00 during IBC2012, RAI Convention Centre Amsterdam.

Image Courtesy of  something.from.nancy

The article Will.i.am Announced as Keynote Speaker for IBC2012 Conference appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Three school student teams in the fifth through eighth grades have been selected as the winners of NASA’s second annual Spaced Out Sports challenge. The students designed science-based games that will be played by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The games illustrate and apply Newton’s laws of motion by showing the differences between Earth’s gravity and the microgravity environment of the space station. The challenge is part of a broader agency education effort to engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities.

To design their game, students use up to five items from a two-page list of objects aboard the ISS. The list includes such items as socks, exercise putty, bungees, cotton swabs, tape, rubber bands, zipper-top bags, chocolate-covered candies and drink bags.

Students at Pierremont Elementary MOSAICS Academy in Manchester, Mo., earned the top prize with their game “Starfield.” In this activity, astronauts will travel through a course to gather “power stars” and throw them through a “black hole target.”

Second-place honors went to students at East Brook Middle School in Paramus, N.J., for their “Outstanding Obstacles” game. It calls on astronauts to race through obstacles including “hair band shooting” and “ring toss.”

Third-place winners were students at Tyngsborough Middle School in Tyngsborough, Mass., for their “Learning Takes You around the World” game, in which astronauts will propel through rings, collecting slips of paper.

“Congratulations to the 2012 Spaced out Sports winners,” said Leland Melvin, associate administrator for education at NASA Headquarters in Washington and two-time shuttle astronaut. “By combining solid STEM skills with imagination and teamwork, these students have demonstrated that they have what it takes to be our next generation of engineers and designers.”

The Spaced Out Sports challenge is a NASA Teaching from Space activity and was first offered in 2010. Using an accompanying curriculum, teachers lead students through a study of Newton’s laws, highlighted by hands-on activities and video podcasts featuring NASA scientists and engineers explaining how the laws are used in the space program.

“The three top games were selected but everyone really is a winner in this challenge,” said Katie Wallace, director of NASA’s Stennis Space Center Office of Education near Bay St. Louis, Miss., where the challenge and accompanying curriculum were developed. “Every student involved wins by learning more about science and establishing an educational foundation that will serve them well throughout their careers and life.”

The article Winners of NASA Spaced Out Sports Challenge Announced appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

As access to skilled workers becomes increasingly vital to the U.S. economy, AT&T is launching a quarter-billion-dollar campaign to help more students graduate from high school ready for careers and college, and to ensure the country is better prepared to meet global competition

AT&T Aspire, already among the most significant U.S. corporate educational initiatives with more than $100 million invested since 2008, will tackle high school success and college/career readiness for students at-risk of dropping out of high school through a much larger, “socially innovative” approach.

Social innovation goes beyond traditional philanthropy – which typically involves only charitable giving – to also engage people and technology to bring different approaches, new solutions and added resources to challenging social problems. The greatly expanded effort centers on a new, $250 million financial commitment planned over 5 years.

To build on this commitment the centre will use technology to connect with students in new and more effective ways, such as with interactive gamification, Web-based content and social media. The company will also tap the innovation engine of the AT&T Foundry to look for fresh or atypical approaches to educational obstacles.

Finally, AT&T Aspire will capitalize on the power of personal connections in the form of mentoring, internships and other voluntary efforts. The Aspire effort already has impacted more than one million U.S. high school students, helping them prepare for success in the workplace and college.

“Working towards an America where every student graduates high school equipped with the knowledge and skills to strengthen the nation’s workforce,” AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said while announcing the extended commitment during a keynote address at the second annual Building a Grad Nation Summit.

The Washington, D.C., event convened by America’s Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, The Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and the Alliance for Excellent Education brings together nearly 1,200 U.S. leaders to discuss progress and challenges in ending the high school dropout crisis.

Lacking a high school degree is a serious issue in the United States, where one in four students – more than 1 million each year – drops out, according to a March 19, 2012, report by Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center, America’s Promise Alliance and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Education experts believe that the lack of a high school degree significantly worsens job prospects in a rapidly changing, increasingly sophisticated job market. And, if dropouts find jobs, they earn less. On average, a high school dropout earns 25% less during the course of his or her lifetime compared with a high school graduate and 57% less than a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

The situation poses a serious risk to American competitiveness as corporations struggle to find talent, especially in the math and sciences fields. The dropout rate, along with inadequate training and education, is keeping many high-paying Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) jobs from being filled. And the situation is expected to worsen as STEM jobs grow a projected 17% by 2018. Workers in these positions typically earn 26% more than those in non-STEM positions.

Although the problem is serious, there are signs of progress according to the report issued on March 19, 2012. According to the report High school graduation rate increased by 3.5% nationally from 2001 to 2009.

“It will take all of us working together and supporting the hard work of the education community to continue to improve graduation rates and preparedness for careers and college,” Stephenson said. “American business has an enormous stake in the success of our students. It’s time to commit more innovation and resources to the task.”

The article Social Innovation to Increase Graduations, Boost Workplace Readiness appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Texas Instruments (TI) announces actress, scientist and author Mayim Bialik as brand ambassador and spokeswoman for TI-Nspire CX math and science learning technology. TI and Bialik hope to inspire teens, the future generation of scientists and mathematicians, to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in their studies and future careers.

The partnership is a perfect match between TI, a longtime advocate and funder of STEM initiatives that drive innovative education programs for students and teachers, and Bialik, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and is passionate about math and science education. Bialik also uses her degree to foster a passion for the sciences by teaching biology and chemistry in her spare time, and through her acting role as a biologist on TV’s No. 1 math-and-science-based comedy.

“I relied on my Texas Instruments graphing calculators while earning my neuroscience degrees, so it is exciting for me to join TI in inspiring and supporting students and educators through the use of TI-Nspire math and science classroom technology,” Bialik said. “I’m a firm believer in fostering interactive learning environments for students. I also understand the importance of advancing science, technology, engineering and math and hope to inspire future generations of scientists.”

The partnership kicks off on March 2, with Bialik attending TI’s 24th Annual T3 International Conference in Chicago, Ill., where nearly 2,000 educators from around the world will gather to learn innovative and effective ways to teach with technology and improve student success in math and science.

At night, Bialik joins TI for a special event where TI will donate more than $40,000 of TI-Nspire CX math and science classroom learning technology and teacher professional development to two local Chicago Public Schools. Each school will each receive a TI-Nspire CX Navigator System, TI-Nspire CX math and science handhelds, and professional development and coaching to ensure ongoing success using the technology.

Bialik also will headline the conference’s Welcome Reception, where she will speak to teachers about her passion for learning and teaching science and her own experience with TI classroom technology. On Saturday, Bialik will meet with educators and conference leaders during professional development sessions.

“We are excited to collaborate with Mayim because of her unique credentials as a real-life scientist and teacher, not to mention her role playing a biologist on one of today’s most popular TV shows,” said Melendy Lovett, president of TI’s Education Technology business and senior vice president of Texas Instruments. “She’s passionate about inspiring young learners to pursue science and math and is a great role model for students and a perfect ambassador for TI Nspired Learning.”

TI has invested more than $150 million in the past five years to support STEM education and research, working to actively engage students in technology and STEM education initiatives.

For more information about Texas Instruments:

• Follow TI on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TICalculators
• Follow TI on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TICalculators
• Visit TI on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TexasInstrumentsCalc
• Visit TI online: education.ti.com

Image Courtesy of   Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

The article Actress Scientist Mayim Bialik Spokeswoman for TI-Nspire CX appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.