MOUSE Events

MOUSE 2009 Events

MOUSE holds first MOUSE Squad Coordinator Conference  (October 15th)

MOUSE held its first ever MOUSE Squad Coordinator-Con on October 15th, 2009. Hosted at Time Inc. offices in Rockefeller Center, the conference was attended by 27 MOUSE Squad educators representing new and veteran schools that run the program. Faculty Advisors enjoyed an opportunity to build a stronger educator support network while sharing best practices and great ideas for program implementation.

MOUSE staff facilitators began the day debuting a new cooperative activity called MOUSE Squad Bridge-Building where small groups of coordinators were given 10 minutes to design and construct a bridge that can hold several MOUSE pads using only drinking straws and masking tape. Coordinators then participated in a Casetracker Relay game to allow them hands-on experience with the mousesquad.org ticket-tracking system. In the final session of the day, MOUSE Evaluator, Kim Sabo, led coordinators through the task of storyboarding the transformation they witness as they watch their students go through the MOUSE Squad program.

The conference concluded with a raffle of prizes donated by Best Buy Co. MOUSE would like to thank our Friends at Best Buy Co. for donating the raffle prizes, TekServe for donating the canvas tote bags given to all attendees and to Peter Vincent of Time Inc. for being such an excellent host.

New York City Council Member James F. Gennaro Honors Thomas A. Edison Career & Technology High School MOUSE Squad (October 2nd)

On Friday, October 2nd, City Council Member James F. Gennaro spent the morning honoring the MOUSE Squad students of Thomas A. Edison Career & Technology High School for their significant accomplishments in providing technical support for 2,800 students at their school. Although Council Member Gennaro presented the Squad with a proclamation recognizing their 'Do-It-Yourself' submission of a "Printer Setup & TroubleShooting" Tutorial Video, he also acknowledged a few of their other impressive achievements, such as being two-time recipients of the "MOUSE Squad of the Year" award and providing technical support for the Channel 13 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference.

The event's highlight, however, undoubtedly came from the testimonies of Edison MOUSE Squad alumni who passionately detailed how participating in the MOUSE Squad program changed their lives. Two of the alumni have been inspired to pursue careers in education with the hopes of encouraging younger students as a result of their MOUSE Squad experience. MOUSE would like to thank student presenters Jessica Alberto, Maria Batista, Navin Haripersaud and Nicole Zagada for their wonderful testimonies; Faculty Advisor Alex Bell and I.A. Assistant Principal Moses Ojeda for their hard work and dedication; and, Council Member James Gennaro for his continued support.

Intrepid Museum hosts New York's MOUSE Geek Squad Summer Academy (August 25 - August 28)

New York public school students were treated to a unique learning experience in technology as they attended this year's Summer Academy on America's premier waterbound museum, the Intrepid. MOUSE in partnership with Best Buy's Geek Squad offered students an opportunity to increase their technological know-how while exploring one of the most successful aircraft carriers to serve in World War II.  

Student's spent the week engaged in hand's on tech-based activities, learning about everything from identifying critical hardware by taking apart computers to creating music and converting songs into ringtones. Between workshops, students got a chance to tour the flight deck and learn about the Intrepid's incredible aircraft collection through a scavenger hunt. Summer Academy allowed students a means to learning key technology based skills from leaders in the tech-support field while taking advantage of New York's rich culture. MOUSE would like to thank Geek Squad and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for helping to host such a wonderful event.

Chicago kicks off MOUSE Geek Squad Summer Academy (July 27 - July 31)

Chicago Public School students entering grades 6 through 12 were offered an opportunity to increase their technological know-how while attending the Geek Squad Summer Academy.  MOUSE's Chicago counterpart, Tech Crew, partnered with Best Buy's Geek Squad to engage students in informative tech-based activities not likely found in a traditional school setting.

Hosted at Jones College Prep, the weeklong summer camp provided 120 students with a variety of classes and activities that included everything from learning about building computers from scratch to exploring technological innovations that promote a 'green' lifestyle. As the nation's third-largest school system, Chicago Public Schools continues to set an example of the impact investing in tech-education can have on prepping students with 21st-century skills.

MOUSE Corps students row with Rocking the Boat (July 17)

On Friday, July 17th MOUSE Corps participated in Rocking the Boat’s (RTB) On Water Team Building activity. Led by Chrissy Word and two students of the RTB leadership program, MOUSE Corps students learned the basics of rowing which included maneuvering and safe handling activities.

Students discovered the importance of efficiently executing their individual roles to maximize the performance of the team as they struggled to find harmony rowing together on the water. During the activity, they also learned about the history of commerce in the Bronx and the Bronx River. Before heading to lunch at the Tree House Restaurant in City Island, students spent time on the shores of the Bronx River seining and observing local aquatic life.

MOUSE Corps students present at NECC 2009 (June 28)

Two MOUSECorps student groups of four students each held Student Poster Panels debuting their Legacy Projects for educators at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held this year in Washington DC. Ryan Mason, a return participant, and newcomer Remy Cucui of School of the Future traveled to D.C. to present an exploratory study detailing the benefits of Open Source Technology in education.  Using Skype, Lawy and Leroy Tindi led virtual presentations from New York on how to identify 'need' as a first level of resolution for any issue.  

Participating in NECC provided MOUSECorps students with an opportunity to hone their communication skills while learning the technique of public presentation. Students with previous experience were given a chance to take a leadership role as they mentored the first-time participants on the best practices for facilitating a panel.

MOUSE Squad students Attend NYU's ITP Spring Show (May 11)

MOUSECORPS students from Lower East Side Prep, School of the future, ACCESS, and W.C. Bryant High School attended New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) Spring Show to view a display of creative innovations by graduate student's in NYU's ITP program. Amongst the many intriguing projects were "A Fish This Big" display where users held color blocks in front of a camera that calculated the distance between them and superimposed an image of a fish over live video feed. MOUSE Squad students also showed interest in the "Traveling Sound Museum," a project in which mason jars concealing sound circuitry reveal different faux-historical soundscape recordings when held up to one's ear. The show provided an excellent opportunity students to view technological innovations being created students of higher education.

Speaker Christine Quinn announces the release of MOUSE Squad Fordham University Evalution (May 8th)

On May 8th, Speaker Christine Quinn, Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson and Technology Committee Chair Gale Brewer joined with MOUSE to release a report on the performance of the MOUSE Squad program. Hosted at one of MOUSE's newest schools, ACCESS, the council members were accompanied by representatives of the NYC Department of Education (NYC DOE) and MOUSE board members in celebrating the results of a study conducted by Fordham University evaluating the impact MOUSE Squad has had in New York City public schools.

The report, titled “MOUSE Squad Program: Implementation and Outcomes,” found that students who participated in the program are more likely to attend school, improve academic, technology and leadership skills, and are better prepared for future college and career opportunities.

“MOUSE Squad has proven time and again that students who graduate after participating are more equipped for the next stage in their lives, especially in today’s vast information technology word,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn, “This report illustrates how invaluable this program is for helping students reach their greatest potential.”

“I am always impressed when I visit a MOUSE Squad in action,” said Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson, “It’s great to learn that the positive energy I’ve observed has been confirmed by a formal study.”

MOUSE would like to thank the City Council of New York and the NYC DOE for their continued support.

The Fifth Annual MOUSE Squad Educators Conference (April 30th)

On April 30th, MOUSE held its Fifth Annual Educators Conference located at the Time Inc. Conference Center. Over 70 faculty advisors of MOUSE Squads from New York City, Chicago and California and other members of the education technology community came together to attend a full-day of workshops. The MOUSE Conference showcased the effective use of technology in the classroom, provided professional networking and expert speakers from across the country for the educators whose passion and hard work make the MOUSE Squad program a success for our students.

Among the diverse range of workshops being offered this year were "Playing 4 Keeps: Civic Engagement through Game Design," "Garage Robotics" and "Participatory Media and Technology." The keynote address was given by acclaimed author, documentarian and winner of the first Neil Postman award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity, Doug Rushkoff, who discussed technology as a landscape upon which America's youth are discovering a self-identity through a new means of communication. The conference concluded with a networking cocktail hour where an iPod Touch and Garmin GPS device was raffled with gift certificates from Donor's Choose.

MOUSE Squad Students participate in PlayTech Saturday (April 18)

Parsons Communication Design and Technology program invited MOUSE Squad members to share their enthusiasm for gaming in an academic forum by acting as testers for prototypes of innovative games. Beginning the day with a pizza party, Parsons administrators capitalized on the opportunity to inform middle and high school students about their post-secondary programs and create awareness around communication and technology design as an exciting course for study at the intersection of new technology and interaction design. Event highlights included an interactive field game in which students were tasked with finding various items around a simulated neighborhood while communicating via text messaging. Students also enjoyed a diverse range of board games and PC strategy games. MOUSE would like to thank Parsons for the wonderful opportunity provided to our students.

MOUSE Squad Students Provide Support at a Three-Day Event Hosted by Google (April 15th)

As part of a collaborative initiative across the Empowerment Support Organization (ESO), ACCESS High school students were invited to provide the technology support for an exciting event held at Google’s NYC offices.

For the past three years, the ESO has annually granted the Goldie Anna Awards for Excellence in Education to schools with proven promising-practices, each of whom are able to support the dissemination of their effective education models across a small group of innovator schools.

This year, Andrew Gallagher, a former MOUSE Squad Faculty Advisor at Bronx Writing Academy currently working for the ESO and one of the organizers, held an extensive three-day Technology Academy for the winning schools to augment their collaborative efforts by introducing technology tools and resources such as Google Apps for Education and Digital Storytelling. The Technology Academy proved to be an ideal opportunity to involve MOUSE Squad students, and allow them to spend a day in one the world’s largest technology companies. Google generously hosted participants of the Goldie Anna Awards and agreed to afford ACCESS students the rare opportunity of providing the technology support for break-out training sessions. In order to ensure the participants were comfortable using technology and the spaces were tech-ready, ACCESS students were asked to assist both the trainers and participants with all of their tech-needs.

MOUSE would like to thank Google for being such wonderful hosts and Andrew Gallagher for providing an incredible opportunity to our students.

MOUSE Kicks Off Its Shadowships for 2009 (March 30th)

MOUSE Corps students from ACCESS School, Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy 141 and the High School of Arts & Technology were provided with the wonderful opportunity to participate in Job Shadowships hosted by corporate partners of MOUSE. On March 30th, EMI kicked off the first week of Job Shadowships allowing MOUSE Corps veteran, Alejandra Garcia, a firsthand look at tech support in the professional forum. Sullivan & Cromwell and Time Inc. rounded out the diverse corporate environments in which MOUSE Corps students were given  a hands-on experience of how a help desk is run on the professional level. Students were also able to participate in professional development trainings and learned not only about techniques used in the workplace but gained some new information they can implement at home and in their schools as MOUSE Corps newcomer, Frances Richburg, explains, "I was sent to one of the trainings the secretaries & lawyers attend. It was about how to use Microsoft Office 2007. It was very informative and I think I'll actually apply some of the skills I learned today about using Microsoft Office 2007 to the documents I'll be arranging when I receive Microsoft Office 2007 on my home computer." MOUSE Corps Job Shadowships last from March 30th to May 15th.

MOUSE would like to thank Time Inc., EMI and Sullivan & Cromwell for providing such a wonderful opportunity to our students.

MOUSE Squad goes Unplugged with Scratch Game Design (March 26)

In partnership with Vision Education, on March 26th MOUSE provided its students with a wonderful opportunity to take a break from their help desk duties and dive into the world of gaming, but this time from a programmer's perspective. MOUSE Squad members discovered the basic elements of creating a video game while participating in a hands on workshop hosted by coordinator Luquan Wang and the squad of Lower East Side Prep. Through the guidance of workshop facilitator, Corey Beder, participants learned how to code their concepts using an intuitive video game programming software called Scratch. By the end of the workshop, most of the students had actually designed a game with a main character, goals, a scoring system, obstacles, a winner's screen and a loser's screen. MOUSE would like to thank Luquan and Lower East Side Prep for being such excellent hosts.

MOUSE Squad goes Unplugged to Explore Media Literacy with LAMP  (March 19)

Partnering with the Learning About Multimedia Project (LAMP), MOUSE hosted yet another successful unplugged event at Macaulay Honors College bringing together an eclectic gathering of MOUSE Squad coordinators, alum and current MOUSE Corps students to explore media literacy. The activities of this session were focused on creating video advertisements and unraveling the persuasive elements of commercials that have been produced. Participants received an in-depth understanding of the relationship between a product and its targeted demographic as they were tasked with establishing a multi-media story and then storyboarding their own commercial to sell an item of their choice. An evident highlight of the event was the insight both students and educators received while working together as equals to take on the challenge of coming up with a 5-minute pitch for their commercials.

MOUSE Squad students attend the US First Robotics Competition (March 7)

MOUSE Squad students and faculty advisors from Access School, Robert F. Wagner and MS 232 spent a day at the Jacob Javits center observing regional high schools compete in the US First Robotics Competition. As a follow-up to MOUSE’s own “Unplugged” Robotics event, MOUSE Squad members were invited to witness innovative robot inventions of participating schools in action as they faced off for the chance to compete in the national event in Atlanta. Students also got a chance to interview the participants about their strategy and the process of building a robot as they walked the show floor. The event provided an excellent opportunity for MOUSE Squad students to discover a fun new application of their tech education in a greater forum.

MOUSE Squad Support Thirteen's Celebration of Teaching and Learning (March 6 & 7)

For the third straight year, MOUSE Squad students from Thomas Edison High School spent two days troubleshooting and providing customer service for presenters at Thirteen’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning conference. Led by faculty advisors, Moses Ojeda and AC Bell, the students worked in pairs to support conference presenters in tending to their tech needs. The support team gained excellent professional experience while earning a cash stipend at the close of the event. MOUSE would like to thank Moses Ojeda and AC Bell for their continued leadership of the MOUSE Squad program both in and outside of their school.

MOUSE Squad Spring Training in New York City (February 28)

More than 50 MOUSE Squad students and faculty advisors from public schools across New York and Connecticut gathered at Access School for a full day of training. The day kicked off with a MOUSE-mallow contest where training participants were confronted with the challenge of working together as a team to build the tallest marshmallow monument. Students and advisors spent the remainder of the day rotating between workshops on leadership skills development, network building, hardware, and web operations. Co-facilitated by MOUSE Corps students and expert trainers, each workshop provided an in-depth study of its headlined subject through hands-on activities. The training concluded with a raffle prize give away of iTunes gift cards and an iPod shuffle. MOUSE would like to thank Access School for providing a wonderful training space and excellent staff support.

MOUSE Squad and MOUSE Corps particpate in Comic Con 2009 (February 8th)

MOUSE Squad students from Access High School and Long Island City High School accompanied MOUSE Corps students in attending Comic Con's 2009 New York festival. During this three-day festival celebrating the various multi-media forums of comic art, students learned from industry professionals the process of turning a hobby into a career. This was the second "Unplugged" event of the year planned by MOUSE that offered a hands-on interactive experience as students were not only able to engage the artists about their work, but also seized an opportunity to check out up-and-coming comics and enjoy demos of recently announced video games. The festival provided an excellent platform for MOUSE students to discover yet another profession that can link their tech education with their leisurely interests to create valuable artwork.