Kathleen Patton

CDD Graduation Ceremony 10-20-09

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:50:06 -0800

Graduation Event Wrap Up

Session Beginning Date: September 15, 2009

Graduation Date: October 20, 2009

Location: 2200 Virginia Ave Santa Monica, CA 90404

Time: 7:00 to 9:00pm

Emcee: Chris Liu

Guest Speakers: Katy Porter

Names of Instructors:

Cri-Help: Smriti, Tyson, Robert, Francis

Walden House: Joanne, Jonathan, Dawn, Derin

House of Uhuru: Chris, Dan, Kaoru, Paul

The Ceremony began with the Emcee; Chris Liu’s, welcoming the graduates and guests. Chris congratulated the graduates and then detailed the night’s events. Chris, who has been teaching the CDD classes for the past two sessions, expressed how much he enjoyed teaching and meeting the students and wished them all future success. Following Chris’ introduction, Katy Porter, our Guest Speaker took the stage. Katy’s motivational speech inspired everyone in the audience. Her speech concentrated on having a focus on goals and taking positive steps to accomplish them. Kathy used a story about a boy with a goal to be an astronaut, in the story the boy does anything necessary to achieve his goal, during his quest to become an astronaut he becomes an eye Doctor and discovers he’s a decent Doctor. Kathy’s story concentrated on achieving your goals and discovering new things along the way.

Our first Student Speaker was from House of Uhuru, followed by Walden House and Cri-Help center. Each of the three student speakers read their 500-word papers in front of the audience. Their experiences were touching and expressive, acknowledging CDD’s positive role in their lives. Uhuru had a very dedicated speaker, one who through his speech, showed he was ready to get back what he has lost. The Speaker from Walden House was very lively and inspiring. Cri-Help’s representative had the most heart-warm story out of the three; she spoke about her family and marriage. Throughout the ceremony, Mark Hanauer the CDD Event’s Photographer, walked about capturing the moment of each of the Speakers; Audience and Guests. To Conclude the Ceremony, CDD Staff and two personnel from each of the centers stood inline on stage as each of the students were called to receive their certificates.

At the end of the ceremony, The Students and their guest along with the CDD Instructors and facility personnel from each of the centers enjoyed refreshments, took pictures and socialized among themselves. The ceremony over all was smooth and well organized, the Guest enjoyed themselves and the Speakers had a relax environment. The Graduating Students and their guest seem proud and had many smiling faces.

CDD Course Report Cri-Help 10-20-09

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:03:46 -0700

Instructor End of Course Report

Center Name: CRI-HELP

Beginning Date: 09/15/09

Graduation Date: 10/20/09

Names of the four Instructors: Smriti, Tyson, Robert, Francis

The course spanned six weeks with classes twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. At the beginning of the course the instructors were given a handout outlining the lesson plan for each of the classes during the six weeks. In addition, after each class the instructors had to email an attendance sheet and a report for that class to the entire team. Since there was a different set of instructors for the Tuesday and Saturday classes the handout and reports were very helpful as they helped keep the entire team on the same page with regard to the progression of the course.

The course started with teaching students the absolute basics in computers (eg: computer parts, common terms associated with computers, using a keyboard, using the mouse, etc.) and then showing them how to access the internet and type in Microsoft Word, and ended with the students having to complete and present a 500 page paper (preferably typed in Microsoft Word) about their future plans once they have completed their rehabilitation program.

Students in the class came from different backgrounds with different levels of experience with computers. While some had never touched a computer in their lives, others had experience typing reports and memos and even fixing computers and setting up computer networks in offices. Trying to get the entire class on the same level while making sure that everyone found it interesting and gained something from the course, was, in my opinion, the biggest challenge the instructors faced. Some students felt that the course was a waste of their time and they could attend other group meetings that help them overcome their addiction. However, on speaking with Kathleen it was found that many of the students were in the course because they had never completed anything after starting, in their lives. This was something new, at least for me, as I had never come across such a situation before in my life.

Another challenge that the instructors (especially the Tuesday team) faced was getting the students to be obedient and respectful of the teachers and each other. Cri-Help has students from Cri-Help and Socorro, and it was the tendency of the students to stick together based on their rehab center. This problem was overcome by dividing them into two groups with each group containing students from both centers. This forced them to work with each other and get to know students from the other rehab center. In addition, the instructors had to be strict with them and had to reinforce the idea that if class rules were not followed and they were not obedient, they shall not be allowed to graduate.

Working with these students was an interesting experience. Many of us read about people with addiction problems but actually knowing such people and interacting with them is a different experience. Seeing them and their families on graduation day and how appreciative the students were of CDD, their instructors, and their rehabilitation centers, was very enlightening. I hope to come back and be a part of the program for the next session.

CDD Course Report Uhuru 10-20-09

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:08:00 -0700

Instructor End of Course Report

Center Name: House of Uhuru

Beginning Date: 9/15/2009

Graduation Date: 10/20/2009

Names of the four Instructors: Kaoru, Paul, Daniel, Chris

The session started out with 14 students with a few of them having had experience using computers and the rest being completely new to the computer. One student in particular (Annette) was very intimidated by the computer.

The session started off well, with instructors Dan and Chris teaching the Computer Discovery terms to some very enthusiastic students. The students were happy to learn the difference between memory (RAM) and hard drive, as well as seeing a motherboard for the first time. Paul joined us as an instructor a couple of classes into the session but was able to pick up easily and helped Kaoru teach the rest of the session. Throughout the course, students were able to learn the mouse, cutting and pasting, copying and dragging, MS Windows, the ins and outs of MS Word, and the Internet. By the end of the course, students were ready to jump onto the Internet to search for various items to help their journey – jobs, apartments, schools.

James was inspired to apply at LA Trade Tech to learn computer repair. Demetrus, who already knew a lot about computers, was disruptive towards the beginning of the session but calmed down enough to help a couple of students type their papers. He ended up presenting his own paper at graduation to thunderous applause.

Annette, who initially struggled, worked very hard to complete her paper and happily graduated with her colleagues. She plans to use the computer to track expenses in her future fabric store business. Other students did similarly well, building on their existing knowledge of computers. Tameka intends to use her newfound skills to promote her hairdressing talent. Tony, Allen, and Raymond developed their mouse using capabilities (a difficult thing for someone who has never used a mouse before). Allen even learned how to change his mouse settings so that he can use his mouse with his preferred hand (left). Most students also improved their typing skills, utilizing the class to practice on the Mavis Beacon typing software. Osbaldo had a tougher time than most because English is his second language. He persevered though and was able to graduate and receive his certificate.

All in all 9 students graduated, each with new skills developed in the class. Even though a couple of students left the facility and other students could not complete the class for personal reasons, we were very proud of the students who did stay and ‘stick it out’ for the 6 weeks. Both the staff at House of Uhuru and the CDD instructors (Kaoru, Paul, Dan, and Chris) gave them huge congratulations at graduation.

CDD Class Report Uhrur 10-17-09

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:59:54 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

House of Uhuru/10-17-2009

OPENING COMMENTS:

Class started at 11am.

ATTENDANCE:

We had 7 students in attendance. Richard and Patricia have left Uhuru House. James and Tameka were absent. Twyla attended the class even though she was absent 3 times already.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

We started with presentations that were not completed on Tuesday. Twyla started first, then Osbaldo, and then Annette.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

After the presentation, we tried to collect all papers from the students. Since network was not working, we decided to collect papers as printed hard copy. Paul carried around the printer next to students’ pc one by one to print out typed papers. Demetrus helped carrying the printer around. Demetrus also helped finding extra blank papers when we got out of papers in the printer. Among all students (except Richard), Annette and Osbaldo are only students who could not finish typing.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

We started to review all the materials they have learned in this class. Kaoru asked students what they have learned, and many students could quickly answer many topics we have covered. Paul asked some specific questions to see if they really understand the material. (e.g. What is the difference between application and program, what is the difference between WWW and the Internet, etc.) In addition, Paul emphasized the importance of using Cut, Copy, and Paste, as well as saving documents to make sure they know how to operate.

LAB TIME:

After break, we started to lecture Email Vocabulary. Kaoru explained basics and Paul explained in detail. (e.g. Paul wrote his email address on the white board and explained how each email address consists of, he wrote sample email format on the board and explained which topics go which. (Address, Subject, body, Signature), also he asked students what are good user name/password, and what are bad ones. etc) We’ve covered all 15 vocabulary. Although they could not get to use actual email system, many students seemed to understand these vocabularies quite well.

After that, we announced the class that Demetrus will be the presenter at graduation, and Raymond is alternate. We congratulate all the graduates and told them dress nicely on the event.

FINAL NOTES:

Before class is over, Paul explained about CDD Alumni book project, and asked students if they are interested in the project. Demetrus, Raymond, Allen, and Osbaldo signed in. In addition, Paul took Twyla aside and talked with her about her absence. At that moment, we as an instructor agreed to ask Kathleen for making exception to graduate Twyla. As for Richard, who has left the UH already but completed all the assignments except to turn in his paper, we talked to Counselor to tell him to bring his paper on graduation day.

CDD Class Report Walden House 10-17-09

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:24:15 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Walden House /10-17-2009

Opening Comments:

The final class started on time. Dawn is “illing” so I covered the class solo.

Attendance:

We had 7 students in attendance. Jimmy and James were unable to attend.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

I took roll and laid out the agenda for the day.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

We reviewed the prescribed 15 words in the Email vocabulary

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

I had all attending students present their papers.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

N/A

LAB TIME:

Lab time was spent having the students who hadn’t finish their papers work on that. We have 6 typed up papers which are attached with this report.

FINAL NOTES:

The class went very well. The students are excited about the upcoming graduation. David Chase was marked off as having completed his paper on Tuesday. He unfortunately misplaced the paper so he did not turn in a paper today.

After listening to the presentations, I concur with the Tuesday team’s assertion that Eric B. is the ideal presenter for the class. I would also like to recommend Shawn S. as the alternate.

CDD Class Report Uhuru 10-13-09

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:36:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Uhuru House /10-13-2009

OPENING COMMENTS:

The class started on time with most students intent on working on their papers.

ATTENDANCE:

We had 9 students in attendance. Donna Guidry, Patricia Hall, Twyla Rucker, and Sedrict Shyn were absent. This absence will be Patricia Hall’s second absence so if she is absent on Saturday, she will not graduate. The other students mentioned will not graduate due to too many absences.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

Roll was taken and the students were given 15 minutes to work on their papers. Both Daniel and Chris went around helping students either with the papers or with typing up the papers.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

After 15 minutes of working on papers, Daniel went over using the Internet. He went over the Back, Forward, Refresh, Stop, and Home buttons in Internet Explorer and the functions of each button. He also talked about search engines and the use of identifying good key words to use in a search. He discussed links and using the address bar.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

The students then presented their papers (if they were finished). Annette McCorver, James Phason, and Osbaldo Oceguedo did not present as they were still finishing up their papers. Osbaldo’s paper is finished but in Spanish. James’s paper was also finished but he was putting the finishing touches on it. Annette said that she wanted to rewrite it to make it neater.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS

None.

LAB TIME:

During lab time, students that finished their papers started typing them into Word. Other students continued working on their papers. Students also took this time to ask specific computer questions, mostly about different functions in Word or about the Internet.

FINAL NOTES:

In order of best, Daniel and Chris think these students’ papers were good enough to be presented at graduation: Demetrus Bruton, Raymond Noel, and Tameka Latimore. The students seemed to feel very accomplished to be so close to graduating .Chris will bring some floppy disks to the teacher meeting on Thursday to give to the Saturday team so that they can save electronic copies of the typed papers on the disks.

CDD Class Report Uhuru 10-6-09

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:44:41 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Uhuru House /10-06-2009

OPENING COMMENTS:

Class started at 7PM. Students were anxious about the quiz on Computer Discovery Terms.

ATTENDANCE:

We had 12 students in attendance. Jamie Alexander has left Uhuru House. Sedrict Shyn was absent.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

The students were asked if they wanted to take the quiz at the beginning of class or after the break. It was decided to take the quiz at the beginning so that the students could get it over with and also to avoid any distractions of students trying to study for the quiz during class.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

After the quiz, Chris went over the second half of Module 2. He went over Cut, Copy, and Paste, and had students try cutting and copying/pasting words and phrases in Word. He also showed students how to cut and copy/paste a folder in My Documents. During this time, Daniel graded the quizzes.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Daniel then went over MS Word. He talked about headers/footers, fonts, page layouts, and page views. We went row by row among the tables and had students change their fonts and page views. We also took this opportunity to have the students demonstrate their skills at cutting and copying/pasting.

3^RD TOPIC COVERED:

We also went over dialog boxes and had students change their page layout into various formats – landscape/portrait, letter/legal size, and different margins.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

None

LAB TIME:

Besides lecture and the quiz, most of the class time was spend doing hands-on exercises on the computer, mostly in MS Word. Students practiced cutting and pasting and changing their fonts (style, size, and color).

FINAL NOTES:

Demetrus was spoken to about listening to music during class. He said that he will stop. Internet access was unavailable. He also spent most of the class time typing his paper since he is already knowledgeable about the topics that were covered. The “Internet” light on the modem does not light up which could possibly mean that there is no Internet – last week when the Internet was working, that light was green. The device was rebooted and both jacks on the DSL line were tried. None of the computers were able to access the Internet. Perhaps the tech savvy Saturday team could take a look.

CDD Class Report Walden House 10-10-09

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:05:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Walden House /10-10-2009

Opening Comments:

The 4th Saturday class started on time. All attending students were in class on time.

Attendance:

We had 9 students in attendance. Javier Herrera has dropped out of the class

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

We took roll and laid out the agenda for the day.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

We went over public speaking and presentations. We covered off on the Do’s and Don’ts of a good presentation.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Dawn reviewed the Internet materials

LAB TIME:

We skipped break and continued right into lab time. Most of the students have finished handwriting their papers and are now typing them. We spent lab time helping them out with their papers.

FINAL NOTES:

The class went very well. Still very drama-free!

CDD Class Report Walden House 10-3-09

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:06:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Walden House /09-19-2009

Opening Comments:

The3rd Saturday class started on time. All attending students were in class on time.

Attendance:

We had 9 students in attendance. Joe Gates had a pass and was unable to attend

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

We took roll and laid out the agenda for the day.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

We reviewed the last 5 computer discovery terms.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Dawn reviewed the 2^nd half of module two starting covering the menu and dialog box topics

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

We covered the first 4 pages of the MS Word demonstration document discussing word processing, in general and MS word specifically.

LAB TIME:

Lab time was spent going over the suggested practice exercises. We had the student create word documents; create personal folders in “my documents” and save their documents. We also showed them how to access their saved documents.

FINAL NOTES:

The class went very well. The students were a bit nervous about the upcoming quiz but we were able to reassure them that nothing would be outside of the scope of what had been covered in class so far. The class is coming along nicely. One thing to note though, Steve Protillo might have some literacy issues as he struggled with spelling common words.

CDD Class Report Cri-Help 10-3-09

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:54:27 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Cri-Help/Oct.03, 2009

Opening Comments:

Class started on time with eight students in class, the five where present at the premises but they had issues to sort out before coming to class and two where absent ( Kingsey Campbell , Theresa Banales). Ten minutes later the five came to class . Robert discussed today’s topic in broad terms.

Work books where given out by both Instructors(Robert & Francis).

Attendance:

There were thirteen students in total all from both groups (Socorro and Cri-help).

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

Robert reviewed model 2 , Terms in Computer Discovery, Topics in the workbook up through page 34 putting more Emphasis on Dialog Boxes, working with the mouse ,keyboard and used examples from Ms-Word..

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Francis briefly went through MS-Word with he students a long in the work book up to page 4. and explained that muc of it will be carried out during Lab Time

ADDITIONAL TOPICS COVERED

There was no additional topics covered.

LAB TIME:

The students where divided into two groups where by each group had Aprox. 20min for hands on training on Computer , (eg. Typing using Ms-word Program) it was taken care of by Francis, then 20min completing their paper and presentation assignments was discussed by -Robert.

FINAL NOTES:

Two students handled in their outline paper that is Devin Parker and Susan Holzborn , then two where discharged from the center (Gabriel Gonzalez and Kingsey Campbell).

CDD Class Report Uhuru 9-29-09

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:05:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT
WH/9/29/09

OPENING COMMENTS:
3 students attended ceremony at another facility and were unable to attend class. Eric handed in the outlines for the students unable to attend.

ATTENDANCE:
Joe G dropped class.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:
Collected outlines. Joanne did overview for Tuesday, class 5and reminded that writing assignments would be due class 9. And Jonathan reminded class of upcoming tests.

1ST TOPIC COVERED:
Joanne and Jonathan discussed the outlines with each student and assisted them with any questions or concerns about paper. Students were reminded to focus more on their plans for success after graduation instead of their past or recovery issues when writing the final paper.

2ND TOPIC COVERED:
Jonathan reviewed computer discovery terms from first 4 classes which included identifying parts using the CPU model and introduced class 5.discovery terms

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

LAB TIME:
What was covered in lab time the general status of the students’ capabilities.
Jonathan and Joanne tested each student skills: minimize, maximize, help, select topic, print, restart, resizing and drag window frames functions.

FINAL NOTES:
Students may need reminder to focus on future and not past when completing their papers.

CDD Class Report Uhuru 9-22-09

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:53:16 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Uhuru House /09-22-2009

OPENING COMMENTS:

The class started 5 minutes late due to some of the students straggling in. I reminded them of showing up on time.

ATTENDANCE:

We had 13 students in attendance. Tony was absent.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

We reviewed module 1 and creating an outline. During lab time, we helped out the students with the two topics.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

I started the lecture with the review of Module 1. Some of the students were getting confused with the terminology (desktop, task, window, etc.). I explain the term and tried to distinguish between the different terms.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Chris followed on with the review of creating an outline. He gave a simple example of getting milk and steps needed to accomplish the task.

LAB TIME:

After break, we divided up the class in half. Chris worked with the students on the outlines, and I went around one by one and made sure they can open a program and bring a certain window to top. With some of the more advance students, I showed them shortcut keys and more maneuvering capabilities.

FINAL NOTES:

It seemed to me that some students are still confused with the outline (as usually is the case). Some were writing papers instead of outlines. Saturday instructors should review this one more time and work with the students. The slowest in the class seems to be Annette. The rest are following along quite well. The more advanced students actually had pretty good attitude and were quite enthusiastic when I showed them something they didn’t know before.

CDD Class Report Walden House 9-22-09

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:24:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

WALDEN HOUSE/TUESDAY: 09-22-09

Opening Comments:

12 students participated. 1 student dropped out (Frederico Delgado: said he already knew the course material and felt someone else would benefit) 1 student (alternate Javier Herrera replaced Delgado.

Attendance:

12 students showed participated. Since Javier Herrera missed the first two classes, Jonathan informed Herrera that he could not miss any classes or he would be dropped.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

Joanner began with overview of material that would be discussed for class 3, reviewed last week’s computer discovery terms and followed with “creating an outline”. The students were reminded that outlines would be due next Tuesday (class 5).

1ST TOPIC COVERED:

Jonathan introduced Week 2 Computer Discovery Terms and after break worked with group A on computers while Joanne assisted group B with outline questions and discussion. Group B used computers while Jonathan assisted Group A with outlines.

2ND TOPIC COVERED: N/A

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

Students demonstrated their computer knowledge by logging in and working on typing speed with Mavis Beacon program.

LAB TIME:

Split groups A & B for computer usage.

FINAL NOTES:

Students seem very interested in the topic “Plan for Success” and some completed outlines in class. Some students wanted to type their outline and paper, but understood that handwritten papers were expected.

CDD Class Report Walden House 9-19-09

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:39:09 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Walden House /09-19-2009

Opening Comments:

The 1st Saturday class started on time. All attending student were in class on time

Attendance:

We had 11 students in attendance.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

Dawn and I introduced ourselves to the class. We briefly went over our tenure with CDD, our educational and professional backgrounds and how passion for computers. We then went around the class and had the student tell us their names and what they hoped to get out of the class. Dawn took roll and presented the agenda for the day.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

We reviewed the 1^st 6 computer discovery terms.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Dawn reviewed the 1^st half of module one.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:

We went over the help section stopping on page 13. We had a 10 min break afterwards

LAB TIME:

Everyone came back on time from break. Lab time was spent mostly between mavis beacon and accessing the “help” menu.

FINAL NOTES:

The class went very well. Everyone seemed eager and committed to the material at hand.

CDD Class Report Cri-Help 9-15-09

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:30:29 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Cri-Help/Sept 15, 2009

Opening Comments:

Class started on time with both Socorro and Cri-help students on time. Both Instructors and Students introduced themselves, some students showed advance knowledge of computers. Workbooks were assigned to Students.

Attendance:

There were fourteen students, including five from Socorro.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

First item covered was ‘rules’ followed by 500-word paper requirements. Students took turns reading out loud ‘paper requirements’ from the workbook and were given a chance to ask questions.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Next, using the workbooks, the first six discovery terms were covered in detail by Smriti. Spare parts were used as visual aids.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS COVERED

Students appeared to be interested in computer hardware. A quick visual sample of how the motherboard, cables, drives and case come together was given while answering any quick questions

LAB TIME:

There were not enough computers for all the students; they were divided into two groups. All but one student were comfortable navigating using the mouse, and two students had more than enough experience.

FINAL NOTES:

Everyone was excited to be there and learn what they can. A student from the Socorro group brought up a possible time conflict with Saturday’s class, from 10-6pm they are having ‘face-off’(???) more information is needed.

Kathleen Patton's Cars4Causes

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:21:28 -0700

Kathleen Patton's Cars4Causes :

Cars4Causes makes it easy to donate a vehicle to CDD. Click here for more details.

CDD Announces Partnership with Cars4Causes

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:08:00 -0700

We are pleased to announce the partnership with Cars for Causes as CDD continues to build our sources of funding. C4C is a well-developed company who works with NPO’s by taking care of the process involved with a donated vehicle. They work with some wonderful organizations and we are pleased to join the family of groups benefiting from this service. C4C makes it easy for both donor and recipient. We encourage anyone who has considered donating a vehicle, boat, RV or motorcycle to click on the link posted on this Blog or contact me at kpatton@cddnp.org for more details.

CDD Graduation Ceremony 8-25-09

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:45:59 -0700

Graduation Event Wrap Up

Session Beginning Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Graduation Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Location: Memorial Park Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA

Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Emcee: Sally Cirello, CDD Instructor

Guest Speakers: Gary Binas from Alameda Chemical and Kathryn Pope from Antioch University

Names of Instructors:

House of Uhuru- Sally, Marie, Misty, Ethan

Cri-Help- Ashok, Robert, Paola, Lindsay

Walden House- Austin, Chris, Eric, Dawn

On August 25th, CDD hosted its third graduation of 2009 at Memorial Park in Santa Monica. As guests filed in, the excitement built as the graduates prepared to receive recognition for their accomplishment. At 7 PM, Sally, the Emcee, started the ceremony by welcoming everyone and recognizing the graduates.

She then introduced the first Guest Speaker, Gary Binas, a very accomplished professional and an experienced public speaker with the Toastmaster’s organization. Using examples from the computer world, Gary gave an inspiring speech outlining the importance of 3 “Don’ts” for students after they leave the program: Don’t be afraid, don’t stop learning, and don’t stop dreaming about tomorrow.

Following his speech, Sally introduced Antioch University’s Kathryn Pope. She spoke about the Bridge Program; a fantastic Antioch offering that gives CDD graduates completely free access to a college education. She had sign up forms with her and several students decided to take advantage of this opportunity. The audience received both speeches very well.

Then, before the students came up and presented their papers, Sally introduced the Walden House Women’s Choir. The choir performed a few songs to get the crowd excited, including “Presence of the Lord” and “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Student presenters from each center were then called up to share their personal plans for success with the audience. First up, Michael Glaze from Walden House talked about the steps on his journey to the top. After finishing the Walden House program, he plans to use the computer to find his dream job as a crane operator and to connect with people who came help him. Being a crane operator has been his dream since he first used one in his Navy tour in the 1980s. After his speech he received huge applause and a Walden House cheer.

Up next, Roxana from the House of Uhuru talked about her dream for a doctorate in psychology. She explained how she had always been very inclined towards learning, but had dropped out of UCLA and furthered her drug use after a false arrest forced her to miss a semester. She talked about the role of CDD in giving her computer training, but also for helping her overcome her biggest fear: going back into the classroom. She mentioned Sally in particular who helped re-spark her interest in education. Roxana will re-apply at UCLA for the fall semester.

Last up was Morris from Cri-Help. He gave a funny and inspiring speech about how computers will help him and mentioned being able to play Pacman with his granddaughter.

After these speeches, it was time for the moment everyone had been waiting for: handing out the certificates. CDD Director Kathleen Patton, speaker Gary Binas, and staff from each center formed a receiving line as the students were called up one by one for their certificates. The graduates proudly accepted their certificates and received congratulations.

With the official ceremony over everyone began enjoying refreshments, pictures, and to talk with their families, guests, and instructors. The ceremony was a great success and a nice way to end another CDD session.

CDD End of Class Report Walden House 8-25-09

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:46:13 -0700

Instructor End of Course Report

Center Name: Walden house

Beginning Date: July 21 2009

Graduation Date: Aug 25th 2009

Names of the four Instructors: Dawn, Austin, Eric and Chris

This session started out with 12 students. The class was evenly divided between students who knew a bit about computers and students who didn’t know too much. The students were a little intimidated at the beginning but eventually got used to the grove of things. Austin and I started off the session on July 21st. Austin was great at asking the students to take notes, reminding them constantly of the quiz date as well as their various assignment due dates. We also thoroughly went over the rules and regulations with the students.

Most of the class had worked very briefly on a computer before but was not too proficient. Albert was probably the only student in the class with an advanced knowledge in computers. Nonetheless the students were very enthusiastic about learning computer software and hardware. They thoroughly enjoyed Austin’s explanation of discovery terms. Almost everybody caught on really quick to practically using the computer. In a short period of time they learned to use the mouse, play around with the desktop icons and the various software related modules we went over during the session.

Most of the students didn’t mind the fast pace setting of the class. Johnny was a little slow at picking up things but Chris and Eric did an awesome job at giving him special attention and helping him catch up to the rest of the class.

All the students improved and learned a lot in this class. Michael, who presented was enthusiastic from the beginning of the class. He didn’t know too much about computers but had a heart willing to learn. He was very attentive in class and did well on all the assignments and the quiz. We teachers couldn’t have been happier with his presentation during graduation. He was very thankful to all the volunteer teachers. Another student who surprised me was Greg. Though he was very talented in writing, he was quite intimidated by computers. He initially had a very long paper and after working with all of us teachers he cut it short to about 500 words which in itself was a huge triumph. But to top it all he also typed his paper up by the last class and submitted it to Eric and Chris. This is a huge victory for him because he types really slow and did not know too much about using word.

Over all the session was good and went smoothly. Even though we were sad to see only half the initial class graduate, we were proud of the students who stuck it out and graduated.

CDD Class Report Cri-Help 8-22-09

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:45:00 -0700

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Cri-Help/Aug 22, 2009

Opening Comments:

Class began on time; students were informed on Graduation time and place.

Attendance:

There were four students in class.

1^ST TOPIC COVERED:

Class reviewed their papers and asked final questions on their Papers and graduation ceremony, Morris was made aware he would be reading his paper during graduation, he is looking forward to reading in front of an audience.

2^ND TOPIC COVERED:

Students were given almost all class time to either finish writing their papers or finish typing them.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS COVERED

Student workbooks were collected on Tuesday; the final email definitions were not covered.

LAB TIME:

Students typed their papers, Adam had more than 500 words, while the rest were shy from 10 to 20 words of 500. The printer did not have ink, but cri-help center allowed us to print out the Graduation Invitations for the students to invite their family and friends.

FINAL NOTES:

All of the papers had to be emailed, Morris will need his paper printed in font 12 or bigger for him to read during graduation, Vic will add a paragraph to his paper to get his 500 words, all students will bring their original paper to graduation.