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<\/p>\nby Derek Strickland | Photography by Dave Barfield<\/p>\n
Collaboration. It\u2019s the essential, ever present\u2014yet often overlooked\u2014resource that makes or breaks the project phase of a Creators Camp experience. Today\u2019s participants are learning the lesson the hard way.<\/p>\n
\u201cFailure is an essential ingredient for success,\u201d opines Vincent Hunt, co-founder and CEO of Creators Camp, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to prepare America’s young emerging creators and innovators for the future by exposing them to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art\/Design and Math (STEAM) and developing key interpersonal skills: Creative-Thinking, Critical-Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Buildership.<\/p>\n
Today his camp is filled with the beneficiaries of the Living Stones International youth programs. Living Stones, another local 501(c)(3), is a faith-based social services organization focused on ministering to families affected by incarceration. Pastor Gary Montgomery, and his wife J.C. are the power couple behind Living Stones. They \u201cretired\u201d from a successful life running a national logistics firm, and decided running an after-school ministry for at risk youth was the kind of R&R they needed in their second act.<\/p>\n
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Vincent, continues to comment on the day\u2019s activities in subdued tones, so as not to tip off any of the participants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about Collaboration all morning,\u201d he says, \u201cNow it\u2019s time to create something, right?\u201d However, they find themselves facing a challenge. They\u2019ve all been given limited resources. None of them by themselves has enough to make anything very impressive.<\/p>\n
One look around the room and it\u2019s obvious, that the kids aren\u2019t reaching out to each other. They haven\u2019t quite figured out that in the project world 1 + 1 = 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s OK,\u201d says Vince with a smile, \u201cFailure is a mandatory precursor to success.\u201d<\/p>\n
He isn\u2019t wrong. Hard learned lessons stick like no other. Despite his approach to this particular challenge, he\u2019s not all hard edges. Not by a long shot. Vincent burns from a fire within. His warm and well wishing spirit emanates from him and is infectious.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the big word we talked about all morning?\u201d he asks the camp, in hopes of sparking an eureka moment. \u201cCollaboration,\u201d they respond, full throated, and perfectly on queue. After thirty seconds or so, the light bulb goes\u00a0off for a few, and you can see a couple kids here and there start to ask their neighbor to share.<\/p>\n
This is no small feat for two reasons. First, the morning started with a lot of the kids finding it hard to open up and engage. The fact, that 4 hours into the camp he\u2019s got them responding loudly and in unison is a testament to the breakthrough he\u2019s made. Secondly, this is an emotional breakthrough as much as an intellectual one. At least some of the kids let their wall down enough to ask for help. Even if it\u2019s just for some Play-Doh from a table mate, it\u2019s nothing to dismiss.<\/p>\n
While the Creators Camp is going down in the Black Archives at FAMU, around the corner at Domi Station, Steamhack 2017 is in full effect. Collegiate technology enthusiasts from the area\u2019s universities and colleges are participating in a hackathon to raise money for Living Stones. A hackathon is an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming. This being inaugural year for Steamhack, the duration is a scant 7 hours.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the Steamhack is to raise enough sponsorship dollars to fund a technology education program at Living Stones during the next school year. If all goes as planned, college mentors from CodEducation @ FSU will be working with the middle schoolers two days a week, and receiving work study credit for it. CodEducation, a Steamhack partner, is lead by Dominic Fezzie, a soon to be alumni from FSU who is currently hacking away in the competition.<\/p>\n
CodeCraft Works, yet another 501(c)(3) and Steamhack partner, will be providing curriculum and mentor training. Meagan Bonnell, who runs the Leon County Branch, is already coordinating the fall program with J.C. while the competitors crank on their projects.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all came together on a wing and a prayer\u2026literally,\u201d says Derek Strickland, founder and organizer of Steamhack.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter working with Living Stones for a year or so J.C., Gary, and I decided we needed to figure out a way to create a more consistent technology education opportunity for the kids. My one or two afternoons a month just wasn\u2019t cutting it given the goals I have for these kids.\u201d says Derek. \u201cAll the best developers I\u2019ve ever worked with started when they were young,\u201d he continues. \u201cThis could really impact these kid’s futures.\u201d<\/p>\n
And indeed it already has had an impact. Pastor Gary shares a story about how the seeds are bearing fruit. It turns out that one of the kids has already won a science award at school. He earned the award for a project he developed using the coding skills he acquired during the twice monthly tech sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you thought it wasn\u2019t enough,\u201d says Pastor Gary to Derek. \u201cYou already made a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek shrugs. He clearly doesn\u2019t take compliments well. \u201cWait till you see what happens this fall when the mentors start coming twice a week.\u201d he says, \u201cWe can do better, and more. And reach more kids. I\u2019ve already got ideas for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pastor Gary smiles and says, \u201cIt\u2019s all about the one sheep, my friend. If we can just help one of them, it\u2019s all worth it.\u201d Derek smiles, and nods, but his eyes are full of stars. He\u2019s already got plans for next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steamhack 2017 and the Living Stones by Derek Strickland | Photography by Dave Barfield Collaboration. It\u2019s the essential, ever present\u2014yet often overlooked\u2014resource that makes or breaks the project phase of a Creators Camp experience. Today\u2019s participants are learning the lesson the hard way. \u201cFailure is an essential ingredient for success,\u201d opines Vincent Hunt, co-founder and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6],"tags":[389,387,388,140,386,141,131],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-technology","tag-build","tag-collaboration","tag-creative","tag-steam","tag-steamhack","tag-stem","tag-teamwork"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1383,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions\/1383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tallahasseefamilymagazine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}