November

I started my AmeriCorps service in the Community Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) on the eighth of November. My sites are CommonBond Communities Skyline Tower (three days a week) and Cathedral Hill Homes (one day a week). I spent the first couple months getting to know more about CommonBond, and meeting people that I work with.

Jessie at Cathedral Hill gave me an orientation to CommonBond and Advantage Services, explaining that I would go through the trainings at the corporate office when they were offered. I went to Seward Tower West to observe the way that the computer lab is run and Jamal gave me an awesome tour.

James (VISTA in his second year at Skyline) and I went over all of the programs he runs and has developed. One of the biggest resources is the Plato program- online Macromedia Flash software for learning. He also does computer classes and job help.

CommonBond Trainings
Nov. 10 I went through Individual Services training, where we talked about information and referral. We went through the different people and programs in Advantage Services, and the process of getting residents to the resources they need.

Nov. 30 I went through Advantage Services training at the corporate office, where I met all the points of contact at corporate. They gave overviews of the programs that CommonBond has at the Advantage Centers across the sites including individual, special needs, family, career, youth, and volunteer services.

CTEP Trainings
My pre-service orientation with Jeff included Mai Lee Yang and Chad Hendrix, and we played two truths and a lie. Jeff lied about the name of his dog (it's Buddy, not Godzilla) and didn't fool anyone. Mai Lee lied about liking fishing and fooled us all. Chad lied about his height and no one was the wiser because his actual height was one inch away. I lied about having a tattoo and fooled them all.

We had our first training at Camp St. Croix with CTEP members, staff, and site supervisors. It was a fun way to get to know everyone, and get to know what the CTEP was all about. My favorite activity was when we chose quotes that were posted on the walls to discuss and then present to the group. The quotes were all data about the digital divide, and there were some fantastic conversations that came up. I think we have a great group with really diverse resources and attitudes to bring to the project!

I also went to training for Digital Junction Conference volunteers, so that in Dec. I would be able to help out with the conference!

(note that I back-dated this post to November '04, though I wrote it after Blog training in March '05)