Did you know that you can input your ideas for the new City of Seattle 2003-2004 budget? There's an online form created just for that purpose. Just fill out the form to send your comments to the City Council and the City Budget Office. You'll have the option of having your comments included in the official record or choose to simply have them sent to the appropriate people.

Three Seattle CTC activists are winners of the First Annual ET3 TEC Champion award for Outstanding Community Technology Leaders. Ti Locke, Asfaha Lemlem, and our own David Keyes were honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Legislative Conference and its Education Braintrust meeting. They have “demonstrated sustained excellence while managing, working in or volunteering in a community technology center (CTC) or community technology program.”

Ti Locke runs a computer giveaway program that provides hardware for those who can't afford it. She obtains, rebuilds, and recycles unusable computers, then redistributes them to the community. She is board president of the Seattle Community Network (SCN) and has been offering and designing community technology trainings since 1994. Ti offers free training where class participants go home with a recyled, donated computer, basic software and an SCN email account. She was the project leader for two Technology Matching Fund projects with SCN and Powerful Schools.

Asfaha Lemlem coordinates the Yesler Terrace Community Computer and Learning Center, a partnership between the City and Seattle Housing Authority (SHA). An East African immigrant, he is a founding member of Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT). He is bringing greater self-sufficiency to the low-income residents of Yesler Terrace through a lab used for youth tutoring, health education for immigrants, senior citizens, early childhood education and job skill development.

David Keyes is the City's Community Technology Program manager. He developed that program into an international model and has ensured that Seattle is a leader in creating digital opportunities for all, helping underserved residents get access and training in computers and the Internet. The Community Technology program provides public Internet terminals and developed the Technology Matching Fund, free Internet connections for community organizations, and Indicators for a Technology Healthy community. He led the planning process to develop Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT). He is a board member and policy chair of CTCNet.

Congressman Major Owens (D-NY), Chair of the CBC's Education Braintrust, conferred the awards. The Education Technology Think Tank (ET3) is a collaboration of business, civic and government sector representatives committed to harnessing technology and telecommunications for economic and educational empowerment of traditionally underserved communities.

The Seattle School District just got word that it has received a US Department of Education Community Technology Center grant award of $490,000 to expand school day/extended day technology-infused learning opportunities at targeted schools and labs for 275 secondary students and their families. Entitled The Tech Net Project: A High Tech Safety Net for Low Achieving High School Students, it targets three schools: Interagency Academy, South Lake Alternative High School, and the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center. Community sites which are partners in this project include the NewHolly Neighborhood Campus, the Rainier Beach Community Center and the South Park Community Center. Another partner in the Tech Net project is the SafeFutures Youth Center. For more information, contact Mike Donlin, SPS Project Director, (206) 252-0799.

The focus of the CTC program competition has changed to give priority to those applicants who will focus on improving the academic achievement of low-achieving high school students while continuing to provide a community technology center for all members of their community.

Thanks to Senator Murray, Jim McDermott and our other federal reps who have strongly supported the threatened Department of Education CTC program.

Mayor Nickels celebrated the fourth anniversary of the Seniors Training Seniors in Computer Basics program and honored the volunteers who participate as instructors & assistants. The program is administered by the Mayor's Office for Seniors / Seattle Human Services Department. Since the program began in 2000, more than 1500 seniors have been able to learn about computers in small classes taught by their peers. It is the volunteers who continue to help elders cross the digital divide. They have helped this program to expand to 10 training sites in Seattle.

Anyone interested in volunteering with the STS program can call or email Patti-Lyn Bell at (206) 684-0639 to learn more about the training orientations, held each month for new volunteers. Although Lead Instructors must be 50 or over, assistants may be younger. Seniors Training Seniors began as a project of the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology Community Technology program.

The General Election is slated for Tuesday, November 4. This is an excellent opportunity to encourage CTC lab users to learn about the candidates and issues. To help voters decide, the Seattle Channel has compiled some great sources of voter information.

If you care about campaign contributors, check out the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission campaign disclosure filings, or review summary reports such as Contributions by Neighborhood or Total Contributions.

Don't miss the SeattleChannel's Video Voter's Guide online, and don't forget to vote.

Share an evening of fun for the sake of kids and the community on Saturday, November 8. The Rec-Tech Coalition has some hot items to auction at their upcoming dinner and auction, entitled Pathway to Your Dreams. The non-profit Rec-Tech provides computer learning experiences for our neediest residents at the Parks and Rec Community Centers.

The event, at Miller Community Center, begins with a silent auction at 5:30, followed by a 7:00 p.m. dinner and live auction. Tickets for a special dinner and evening of fun are $50.

Auction items include a signed, limited edition lithograph of Edgar Martinez by artist Michael Reagan, a private performance by the Emerald City Jazz ensemble, and Mariner box seat tickets for the 2004 season. There will be other surprises, and a guest speaker. Volunteers are needed to help with the auction. Don't hesitate. Your effort will make this event a success for the kids, seniors and others who need the door opened to be opportunitites of the Information Age. More information about about Rec-Tech is available on their web site.

The Seattle Public Library has many great classes offered to the public at a variety of locations. One program in particular is the Wired for Learning computer instruction program. The program is available at five sites and the Library is looking for new CTCs and organizations with which to partner. Wired for Learning (WFL) is a series of three classes—basics, Internet and e-mail—that are designed for low-level literacy and ESL adult learners. These free classes provide a much-needed service to ESL and ABE learners who need computer skills for their jobs or to help their children with schoolwork, but are unable to follow along in other classes that move at a rapid pace. Computer and technology skills are vital to success in our society, and WFL provides access to these skills.

Wired for Learning strives to complement the work of other community organizations—to provide what they cannot, and to strengthen and support the services they do provide. The Library partners with interested community organizations, providing curriculum, including student handouts, and trained volunteers to teach the WFL curriculum at the site’s computer lab. The community sites and the Library work together to recruit students for these classes. The classes are taught in a helpful and cooperative environment where students can help set their own pace. There is something for everyone in Wired for Learning.

Currently, the Library offers WFL classes at these five sites: the Temporary Central Library, John Muir Elementary, Sandpoint Community Center, NewHolly branch library, and the Yesler Community Center. WFL volunteers teach the series of three sessions over the period of three weeks at each of the different sites. The Wired for Learning program is available for community partnerships. For more information, or if you have any questions, contact Katy Sellers, WFL program coordinator, at(206) 386-4649 or by e-mail at katy.sellers@spl.org.

Community Capital Development has launched a new no-cost online service to help small businesses find free and reduced cost services available in Western Washington. The Online Resource Locator was launched on September 24. The services listed in the directory include: free one-on-one business counseling, access to capital, tax advice, networking opportunities, procurement, access to computers, and more.

The mission of the Online Resource Locator is to ensure that in this new century of advanced technology, underrepresented small businesses are able to find and capitalize on opportunities for growth and innovation. This service was created because many businesses looking to start or grow are not aware of the resources available through non-profit organizations and the government. Many business owners also lack the time to research which organizations are most applicable to their needs. The Online Resource Locator provides detailed descriptions of the services that these organizations provide, any fees associated with the services, and whom to contact for more information. Contact Community Capital Development at (206) 324-4330 (Seattle), (425) 787-9856 (Everett), or click on the link above for more information.

Future leaders gained a unique combination of hands-on leadership, community service and civic participation skills this summer at South Park CTC, when the lab hosted local middle and high school students enrolled in the Prudential Youth Leadership Institute. Kids learned to track participants' attendance and performance; to edit pre- and post-surveys; and to input participant assessment data. They also created print program announcements, and community service project flyers. Sessions offered about 30 hours of workshop instruction, with segments on community analysis, goal setting, team building, project planning, decision-making and other leadership dynamics.

Training of this calibre is typically only available to Fortune 500 corporate executives and government leaders. The Prudential Youth Leadership Institute is offered through the Seattle Parks and Recreation's Teen Office and Next Generation Consultants, a youth-run apprenticeship program based in Seattle's South Park neighborhood.

Deadline: January 15, 2004

Get seed money for community based nonprofit orgs and even for individual women through the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation. Community Action Grants provide start-up funds for longer- term programs and are restricted to projects focused on K-14 (including two-year colleges) girls' achievement in math, science, and/or technology. In 2004-2005, only two-year grants will be awarded. Grants will be made in the amount of $5,000 to $10,000. See the AAUW web site for complete program guidelines and eligibility requirements as well as information on past Community Action Grants awarded by the foundation.