TITLE: Cool Careers: Monthly Spotlight
THEMES: Global Development
GRADE LEVEL: 7-8, 9-12
DATES: Friday, September 18th
Wednesday, October 14th
Friday, November 20th
Wednesday, December 9th
TIME: 1:00-2:00 PM EST
COST: $150, or GNG Membership Price
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Ever wondered who designs your favorite Facebook application? Or who designs your favorite hoodie? Who dreams up the storyline for the latest box office hit? Or who feeds the tigers after the zoo is closed to the public? In this 4-Part Innovations series, GNG will go off the beaten path of the typical 9-5 desk job and look into unique careers for students to explore. Students will learn that finding an exciting career will take more than wishful thinking - paying attention in their current science, math, and social studies classrooms will be integral towards future professional success! GNG will be highlighting a unique career each month.
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th
1:00-2:00 PM EST
Lijen Tan
Lijen Tan is the CEO of vDream Racing- a premiere Facebook Application/Game for car enthusiasts. He grew up in the heart of the Silicon Valley in Cupertino, California - with its most famous resident being Apple Computers. He double majored and received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley. Like all Silicon Valley tech geeks, he worked for a start up designing websites for musicians such as Madonna, Eric Clapton, and Linkin Park.
In 2007, Lijen put on his innovative cap and started up vDream Racing. With only a handful of employees, he's successfully mastered the art of multi-tasking working as a programmer, product designer, artistic manager, and business developer. He dedicates his spare time perfecting 360s on the slope, being an avid concertgoer, and staying up to date with current tech gadgets. Lijen's thirst for exploration and expertise as a jack-of-all-trades had also led him to spend a year in China backpacking and teaching English.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14th
1:00-2:00pm EST
Speaker: Mike Robinson
Mike Robinson has been playing drums since his childhood, when his father began teaching him the basics that began a lifelong love for percussion. After, graduating college with a BA in Philosophy in 1995, he spent the next few years working in Boston as a professional drummer in a variety of jazz and rock bands. Till this day, Mike refers back to his philosophy education to help bridge the gap between the world of music and the world of business.
In 1997, Mike joined D'addario & Company, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of accessories for musical instruments. Today, he serves as Senior Product Manager for Percussion. His responsibilities include the general management of D'Addario's three percussion brands, including Evans Drumheads, HQ Percussion, and Puresound Percussion. Mike oversees all product development, marketing, artist relations, finance, and operations.
Working in the music industry, Mike has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe meeting various acclaimed artists, from vocalists to musicians, and attends numerous music festivals like South by Southwest, Ozzfest, The Vans Warped Tour, High Sierra Music Festival, and Emergenza. His passion for percussion instruments and sounds weave not only through his professional life, but also Mike's personal life in helping mentor young aspiring drummers, sharing his music with his family, and always searching and exploring new sounds and beats. Observant and respectful of what world music offers, Mike continues to learn new techniques and skills that reflect how the percussionist in a band, ensemble, or orchestra impacts an overall musical performance.
Also joining Mike for the Cool Careers Videoconference is Joe Russo. Russo's drumming is fierce and complex (he has been nicknamed "The Madness" by fans). Russo has twice won the New Groove award at the Jammys, in 2000 and 2005. In the summer of 2006 he was the drummer in a collaboration with Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and Marco Benevento (sometimes referred to as GRAB or Mike & the Italians).
This Fall, Russo will be joining Bob Weir and Phil Lesh from Grateful Dead fame, in addition to Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti and John Kadlecik (from Dark Star Orchestra) to form a new "superband" that will play classics from The Dead as well as new material.
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20th
1:00-2:00 PM EST
Qianna Smith
Leveraging her skills and talents, Qianna Smith's professional journey has taken a multitude of paths, from stylist, to make-up artist, to freelance fashion writer, to Editor-in-Chief of FashionQandA.com and now Fashion & Beauty Editor at ESSENCE.com. Smith's career success is the result of years of hard work and living by the motto, "chance after your dreams." Originally from the sunny state of California, Smith has traveled to over 28 countries and has lived and worked throughout Europe. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. At FAU, Smith joined the University Press and developed her passion for reporting and journalism.
Dedicating her life to fashion and creative expression at an early age, Smith feels she was destined for a career in the fashion industry. Having first appeared on the New York Fashion Week scene in 2001, Smith began her career as a stylist and dressed high-profile figures. Smith first started styling at a runway presentation when, by chance, several make-up artists where no shows. She was asked to lend a helping hand, and that break gave Smith the ability to cultivate her talents as make-up artist and personal cosmetic consultant overseas. Combining her love of high-fashion style and make-up artistry, Smith branched out into freelance fashion writing for both print and online magazines.
Smith has provided expert style/trend commentary for media outlets such as the Guardian News, Los Angeles Sentinel and has appeared on Fox News Business as well as several local European television and radio stations in Italy, Germany and France. Her work has also been featured on the Tyrashow.com, ExtraTV.com, Huffingtonpost.com, and Luxaholics.com.
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9th
3:00-4:00 PM EST
Ben Schwegler
Ben Schwegler is Walt Disney Imagineering R&D's chief scientist, and is particularly interested in the development of sustainable engineering techniques. He was instrumental in the creation of the most energy efficient theme park ever built as well as a new generation of environmentally friendly fireworks.
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The Cool Careers program is aligned with these National Educational Standards:
Education for Sustainability - Student Standards
- EfS Standard 1 - Students understand and are able to apply the basic concept of sustainability (i.e.: meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs). They develop an understanding of the historical context in which the definitions, concepts, and principles of sustainability and sustainable development have emerged over time.
- 1.1 Intergenerational Responsibility
- EfS Standard 2 - Students recognize the concept of sustainability as a dynamic condition characterized by the interdependency among ecological, economic, and social systems and how these interconnected systems affect individual and societal well-being. They understand and experience their connection to and interdependence with the natural world.
- 2.1 - Interconnectedness
- 2.2. - Ecological Systems
- Urban Design/Land Management
- 2.3 - Economic Systems
- Alternative Indicators and Indexes of Progress
- True (or Full) Cost Accounting
- 2.4 - Social and Cultural Systems
- Multilateral Organizations
- International Summits, Conferences, Conventions, and Treaties
- EfS Standard 3 - Students develop a multidisciplinary approach to learning the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to continuously improve the health and well-being of present and future generations, via both personal and collective decisions and actions. They understand and can describe their vision of a world that is sustainable, along with the primary changes that would need to be made by individuals, local communities, and countries in order to achieve this.
- 3.1 - Personal Action
- Lifelong Learning and Action
- Personal Change Skills and Strategies
- 3.2 - Collective Action
- Local to Global Responsibility
- Community-Based and Societal Level Decision-Making
- Public Discourse and Policy
- Organizational and Societal Change Skills and Strategies
Fine Arts Standards
NA-VA.9-12.1 UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING MEDIA, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCESSES
Achievement Standard:
- Students apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their intentions are carried out in their artworks
- Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
- Students communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium
- Students initiate, define, and solve challenging visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
NA-VA.9-12.4 UNDERSTANDING THE VISUAL ARTS IN RELATION TO HISTORY AND CULTURES
Achievement Standard:
- Students differentiate among a variety of historical and cultural contexts in terms of characteristics and purposes of works of art
- Students describe the function and explore the meaning of specific art objects within varied cultures, times, and places
- Students analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, justifying conclusions made in the analysis and using such conclusions to inform their own art making
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
- Students analyze and interpret artworks for relationships among form, context, purposes, and critical models, showing understanding of the work of critics, historians, aestheticians, and artists
- Students analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning
NA-VA.9-12.6 MAKING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN VISUAL ARTS AND OTHER DISCIPLINES
Achievement Standard:
- Students compare the materials, technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts with those of other arts disciplines as they are used in creation and types of analysis
- Students compare characteristics of visual arts within a particular historical period or style with ideas, issues, or themes in the humanities or sciences
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
- Students synthesize the creative and analytical principles and techniques of the visual arts and selected other arts disciplines, the humanities, or the sciences
Social Studies Standards
- Strand III: People, Places, and Environments
- Strand IV: Individual Development and Identity
- Strand V: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Strand VI: Power, Authority, and Governance
- Strand IX: Global Connections
- Strand X: Civic Ideals and Practices
All GNG programs are aligned with the U.N. Millennium Development Goals:
- Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
What to expect from The PULSE
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