I chose to do the logo in the organizations colors - deep red and yellow. The yellow represents sunshine and summer days. It is a happy color that will hopefully inspire a feeling of joy when people look at the logo. The red is a fierce color that I used to inspire the passion and intensity of the program and its students. I wanted the black to give some grounding to the much brighter warm colors. I also wanted to add a touch of class to add legitimacy to the organization and its efforts. I also wanted the multiplied box shape to appear crest-like in order to mimic a much older and more prominent educational institution. That feel is also reflected in the lifelong learning part of the values statement.
The font, Zapfino, is classy but fun. Its curves and small flourishes give it a touch of whimsey that accurately encapsulates my personality. The letters connect in slight curves, smooth and subtle; they create a playfulness. Like those letters, I am well connected - to the people I care about, to my work, I also went with a bright green font because my personality is such that I want to stand out, but in positive ways. The green represents freshness and nature. It pops on the black background, which is like me - I stand out.
Working with children is an important cause, particularly today, when public education seems to be floundering. So many children living below the poverty line have so few educational opportunities, let alone enrichment opportunities. I want my cause to help these kinds of students engage in free summer programing that can provide them with much needed educational skills, life skills, and just generally keep them in a safe environment.
I like that the NIA program (see first image), puts a strong emphasis on curriculum and on creative learning. I want my organization to have a strong basis in traditional pedagogy and learning theories; however, I also want to push the boundaries and encourage creative learning that students do not get in their regular schools. On the Philly Youth Programs site (see second image), there are a lot of great resources to help people find the programs they are looking for. I like the idea of creating a website that has organized resources that are actually helpful to my viewers. In terms of contributing to this cause, I can use my background in secondary education to create a basic curriculum and to organize a daily schedule for the program. Finding the right people to help me get this program started will be key. I have a lot of great contacts who are educators across the state that can probably help me to organize the start up. Content: The content on this page is specifically designed to give a complete overview of the program so that users know what the site holds for them. Because this website is designed for the use of Summerbridge students, and is introduced in the summer when students can work directly on the site with teacher assistance, the home screen is long and has a lot of different parts. When students come back to the site on their leisure time, I want them to be able to find exactly what they need.
Organization: I used columns to keep the information organized. I felt this set up was the best way to keep the user from getting overwhelmed. Images: I wanted to show the students having fun while learning, and the teachers (included in header slideshow). I also wanted to show users how the site works in terms of navigation, and I wanted to make sure students make it to the blog. I have uploaded a number of images from the different stories I have posted on the blog. Each image in the slideshow is linked so students can be taken directly to the post if the image intrigues them. Color: I chose a black screen background with white page background. The black border focuses the eye on the central content. Summerbridge logo colors are red and yellow. I incorporated those colors into some of the divider images. I also chose to make one of the site accent colors orange to fit in with the warm colors. Font: I kept the font consistent throughout. I used bold and size changes to highlight certain content. I chose to use black font because it has a nice contrast against the white backdrop. I also went with a size 16 font (in Weebly) in order to make the content legible. I decided to make a long home page in order to provide a brief description of some important elements of the site. The target audience consists of middle school students who attend or did attend Summerbridge as well as their oftentimes non-English speaking families. For this reason, I wanted the homepage to be image heavy, with the images linked to content. I also added a google translate widget to the footer so that each page could be translated into other languages.
I tried to highlight the information that lies above the fold, and set it off with red/yellow stripes. Also, above the fold, I have a horizontal main menu bar. Although the recommended number of main menu items is about 5-7, I included 9 (the image was reduced so the last one gets pushed to the bottom where it doesn't appear in regular view). The reason I have so many tabs is because there are so many different kinds of people looking at this site. I put teacher information under the home tab and tried to include the main categories of information I thought our students would look for as they went through middle school, high school, and college. I also included a search bar and a link in the footer. The footer link takes users to the official Moravian Academy Summerbridge website. Elevator Pitch: Lehigh Valley Summerbridge is a non-profit, enrichment education program for low income, highly motivated middle school students in Easton, Allentown, and Bethlehem. Our students aspire to go to college, and we help them to get there through a year round tutoring program and a 6-week intensive summer education program. All of the teachers at Summerbridge are enrolled in college degree programs and most are aspiring professional teachers. 1. Raise awareness in the Lehigh Valley about Lehigh Valley Summerbridge. 2. Increase engagement in the Lehigh Valley Summerbridge Alumni website.
Why does this group exist? What is it's mission?
Lehigh Valley Summerbridge is an organization that serves underprivileged middle school students in the Lehigh Valley. Summerbridge's goal is to provide students with education instruction that will help those students to succeed in college tracked classes in middle and high school. Summerbridge also seeks to help aspiring teachers who attend local colleges for education degrees. Who does this organization help and why? Summerbridge helps underprivileged Lehigh Valley students, their parents and guardians, and aspiring young teachers. While high income families are able to send their children to summer camps and educational programing, low income families are rarely able to send their children to summer programs, particularly educational enrichment programs. Many times, these families do not speak English and/or were not education in American schools, putting those families at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding how American schools operate. Summerbridge seeks to level the playing field by offering these students and families opportunities to learn over the summer and during the school year. How do they help? For each enrolled 7th grade student, Summerbridge includes two 6-week summer programs and once a week, year round tutoring. During the summer, Summerbridge provides Government sponsored breakfast and lunch to students. Summerbridge classes consist of math, science, literature, writing, electives, homework time, and club time, giving students the opportunity for extra help in those subjects. Summerbridge also performs community service and has a variety of free field trips throughout the school year for its students. What elements of their organization do you think you might want to emulate in your own project and why? The best part of this organization is that no one in it is wasted. Students and teachers are being educated in this program. Oftentimes, the teachers attend Lehigh Valley colleges, meaning they will perform their student teaching experience in the Lehigh Valley, giving back to those students in their regular classrooms. Students are introduced to new ways of learning and are celebrated for their creativity. Also, the small class sizes allow teachers to really know students and offer specialized help or educational intervention. I would love to emulate this model in my organization. I want to make sure that there is incentive to join and remain a part of the organization. I want to make sure that the educators in my program not only perform a valuable service, but also learn in the process. Who is that awesome lady in the background of this picture, fist pumping and eating wedding cake? That's me, of course. My name is Stephanie Palmieri, and I believe there is nothing in the world quite like a good fist pump. This behavior stems from my long career as an athlete and my possibly over-the-top competitive nature. Sometimes, when headed up to the Temple train, I secretly race strangers and do a mental fist pump when I beat them to the top. After playing two division I sports in college and pursing many advanced degrees (yes, I am quite brilliant), I have found myself pursuing a career that I love. In the summers, I teach middle school students in the Lehigh Valley and during the school year, I teach college students - both are jobs I hope to continue in the immediate future. |
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