Caldwell County High School Team Rock Rookie Year at FIRST® Robotics Competition

In April, two Caldwell County School teams participated in the NCFIRST Robotics competition. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a prestigious annual competition that challenges high-school students—working alongside professional mentors— to design and build a robot of their own, and compete in a ‘varsity sport for the mind’ that measures the effectiveness of each robot and showcases the power of teamwork and collaboration. Students build and program their own robots against a field of competitors and experience the excitement of science, engineering, technology and innovation.

Enoch Moeller, operations manager at the N.C. data center, and other Googlers provided technical assistance and were mentors for the teams.

Teams from the South Caldwell High School and a team comprised of students from Caldwell Career Center Middle College and Caldwell Early College competed in the competition.

The South Caldwell team placed 10th at the North Carolina Regional NCFIRST Competition, winning the Top Rookie Seed Award. The Caldwell Career Center Middle College and Caldwell Early College team placed 17th out of 44 teams in the regional competition. The Caldwell County teams were sponsored by Google and the Education Foundation of Caldwell County, Inc.

For more information, please visit http://www.ncfirstrobotics.org/frc/nc-frc-teams.html.

Pictured above: Rookie team the Knight Riders made repairs to the front wheels that had been damaged in a previous round of competition. Right: Team members Tyler Greer (standing part of transport team), Josh Tarr and Nathan Roberts (mechanical and pneumatic team); Background:Trevor Parrish (robot driver looking for tool); Center:Mentor Fred Wolf (retired defense engineer);Left: Ethan Hicks team member looks on, Freda Parker Lead mentor working and Kyle Wilcox transport team member looks on.

Photo credit: Kim Poole, mentor

The City of Lenoir and Google Team-Up on Wi-Fi Project

CONTACTS

Kaye Reynolds, City of Lenoir

828-757-2177 (work)

828-850-5696 (cell)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 15, 2009

The City of Lenoir and Google Team-Up on Wi-Fi Project

Bridging the Digital Divide with Free Wi-Fi Access in Downtown Lenoir

(LENOIR/CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C.) – A group of school children with laptops were joined by representatives from the City of Lenoir, Caldwell County Schools and Google to announce the first-ever launch of the free Lenoir Municipal Wi-Fi Network. This latest development is part of a continuing effort to provide the community with the most cutting-edge technological resources, making Lenoir a leader in its approach to successfully bridging the digital divide.

“Downtown Lenoir will continue to be Western North Carolina’s latest hot spot with today’s announcement,” said Lenoir Mayor David Barlow. “By providing visitors and locals with this free service, they can easily visit our shops, enjoy a cup of coffee, access the Wi-Fi and stay connected, which is increasingly important in our busy lives. What also makes this special is that the Wi-Fi can be accessed from outside sitting on a park bench. Unleashed Internet connection is different than typical Wi-Fi systems. This shows that our town is making a commitment to being a step ahead. With the work from our City employees and having a corporate citizen like Google in our community, the tools and know-how to make this announcement possible was truly a team effort.”

Funding for the Lenoir Municipal Wi-Fi Network, was made possible through a Google gift to the City of Lenoir of $110,348 for the project’s capital costs, which includes the radios, equipment needed to run the network and extra bandwidth for the users. Google also made a separate payment of $15,000 to allow Google to host the Wi-Fi’s landing page (http://wifi.google.com/lenoir/) for three years, and include links to information about organizations in the city as well as Google services. The City is responsible for both the operation and the running of the Lenoir Municipal Wi-Fi Network.

The Wi-Fi announcement is a continuation of Caldwell County Schools’ (CCS) commitment to incorporating computers and technological expertise in the classroom. In February, 150 refurbished, Wi-Fi ready laptops were donated for CCS’ “Lending Laptop” program through a Google Community Grant to seven CCS schools – Davenport A+ Elementary, Lower Creek Elementary, Valmead Elementary, Whitnel Elementary, West Lenoir Elementary, William Lenoir Middle and Hibriten High School.

“Our students must be ready to compete in this 21st century knowledge-based

economy,” said Dr. Steve Stone, Caldwell County Schools Superintendent. “The free Wi-Fi, combined with the “Lending Laptop” program, provides our students with a real-life demonstration for our students to highlight the active role that technology plays in our day-to-day lives. Our efforts have now come full circle.”

The Wi-Fi nodes cover a one-half-mile radius (one-mile diameter) roughly centered at the intersection of West and Main Streets. There are currently 13 access points deployed around Lenoir. When you connect to the Wi-Fi, your browser will take you to a landing page and there, you’ll see instructions and terms of service to access the Wi-Fi.

“Google is strongly committed to providing our data center communities with access to the most up-to-date information and resources,” said Tom Jacobik, Google’s Operation Manager in Lenoir. “Putting in the Wi-Fi program is a team effort, involving our many community partners and the Googlers at the data center. The families, school children and visitors to our community will benefit greatly from this new service, which we are thrilled to have funded. Employees with the City of Lenoir will do a great job operating and servicing the Wi-Fi network.”

The Lenoir Municipal Wi-Fi Network was made with the support of several city and county staffers and departments, including the City of Lenoir’s Public Works Department, which provided the facilities and labor to perform the installation and placement of all access points. Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care, Caldwell County EMS, the Lenoir Police Department and the Lenoir Fire Department allowed their buildings to be used as access points.

For more information about Lenoir Municipal Wi-Fi Network, please visit http://wifi.google.com/lenoir/. For more information about Google, please visit www.google.com/lenoir.

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Inaugural Community Block Party Benefit Raises Awareness, Funds

Nearly $1,000 raised and more than 2,300 canned foods donated to support the Lenoir Soup Kitchen and the Caldwell County Yokefellows, Inc.

The first-ever Community Block Party Benefit, held Sept. 19 in downtown Lenoir, connected local families and friends together for fun, food and charity. The result was a stronger community and nearly $1,000 raised to feed and clothe those in the region who need it most.

Google and the City of Lenoir co-hosted this inaugural event to help stock the shelves at the food bank and raise awareness of the needs of those in the community. Proceeds benefited the Lenoir Soup Kitchen and the Caldwell County Yokefellow, Inc., area non-profit organizations, which are experiencing record increases for their services. More than 2,300 canned/boxed food items were collected.

Though the event, which included live music from area bands, a bouncy house, face painting, balloon art, a raffle and other surprises, was free and open to the public, attendees were strongly encouraged to donate canned or boxed-food items. Each item was redeemed for a ticket towards activities. Those who brought 10 canned/boxed food items, received a wristband. If they forgot to bring a food donation, select downtown businesses sold wristbands for $5 each.

Several hundred raffle tickets were purchased to win an iPod, a Netbook, Wii, solar device charger and gift baskets, to name a few. The raffle was sponsored by the Caldwell County Yokefellow, Inc. and the Lenoir Soup Kitchen. Raffle prizes were provided by Google that matched proceeds from the raffle at $1,000 for each organization.

The Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce, the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission, the Lenoir Uptown Business Association (LUBA), representatives from the City of Lenoir's police, fire, emergency management and health departments were among other community organizations that provided assistance for the event. Abigail's, Corner Creamery, Chix with Stix, F. Futs and Company, Java Joe's, Rococo Rionel and Kicks-FM 103.3 radio are among companies that also contributed to the success of the event.

For photographs from the event, please visit http://idek.net/Vhh.

About the Lenoir Soup Kitchen

The Lenoir Soup Kitchen serves between 70 and 130 plates a day. From January to August of this year, 19,000 plates have been served, an increase of 2,000 plates from last August. For more information, please call 828-758-1411.

About the Caldwell County Yokefellow, Inc.

The Caldwell County Yokefellow, Inc. provides low-income citizens with emergency food, clothing, household goods and financial assistance primarily for fuel, utilities, rent and medical needs. This year, the Caldwell County Yokefellow, Inc. has made more than 8,700 assists (681 financial assistance assists; 670 food donations; 217 clothing vouchers and 7,200 clothing and household items sold at the thrift store) – up 30 percent from last year. For more information, please call 828-754-7088.

Caldwell County Nonprofit for At-Risk Youth Receives Google Community Grant

Caldwell Friends, Inc. (CFI), a nonprofit organization that provides programs for at-risk youth, has received a $15,000 Google Community Grant from the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at Tides Foundation to purchase computers, equipment and supplies to support its technology literacy and mentoring programs.

“With the Google Community Grant, we will be able to provide young people in our community with an updated computer lab to assist with their homework and research projects," said Tana Murray, executive director of CFI. "Our youth come from homes where access to computers and the Internet is not always available. It is our goal that these tools will assist youth in developing their computer skills and their knowledge of the Internet for future success.”

With the supervision of the youth's adult mentors, the computer lab will be available for their use during afterschool and weekend hours. CFI hopes that the computer lab will also increase the grade point averages and the computer literacy skills of their participants. CFI is an after-school one-on-one mentoring program in Caldwell County and the only mentoring resource for the area's court system. Adult mentors and the staff provides assistance to youth by enhancing their social skills, improving their cognitive skills through dialog and listening and serving as role models and advocates.

"CFI is just another example of how successful programs, involving area community partners, can be an effective tool to help our young people who need it most,” said Tom Jacobik, Google's Operations Manager for North Carolina.

The Google Community Grant comes from the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at Tides Foundation, which offers donor-advised funds and other grant-making vehicles, as well as professional philanthropic advice.

For more information about the Google Community Grants Program, go to www.google.com/lenoir and visit the "Community Outreach" page. Interested parties can submit an online application through this Web page on or before the first day of each quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1). All grant applications must be submitted online.

ABOUT CALDWELL FRIENDS, INC.

Caldwell Friends, Inc. (CFI) is a community-based 501C3 nonprofit organization providing adult mentors to at-risk youth ages 6 to 17. CFI was established by a grant from the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in July 1983, with a mandate to serve 17 to 22 youth per year. In July 2006, CFI began providing the mentoring component for the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, which expanded the program to 21 to 26 youth per year. Sixty percent of the youth are referred by juvenile court, law enforcement or school resources.

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Entrepreneurship Program for Caldwell County

Philanthropy Journal
April 9, 2009
Communities In Schools of Caldwell County received $30,000 from Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at Tides Foundation. In partnership with Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce, Caldwell County Schools and Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute, grant will be used to develop community's first school-based entrepreneurship program, "Business 101: A Blueprint for Teen Success."
http://www.philanthropyjournal.org/nc/nccharitablegiving/entrepreneurship-program-caldwell-county

Caldwell Arts Council Receives Google Community Grant

N.C. Arts Council
March/April 2009
The Caldwell Arts Council received a $7,000 Google Community Grant from the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at Tides Foundation.
The Google Community Grant will be used to provide technology education to arts non-profits in the region. The Caldwell Arts Council will be trained in the use and application of the many Google products and in turn will become the trainer of the products to other arts non-profits across Western North Carolina.
The Caldwell Arts Council is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to establish and maintain an awareness and appreciation of cultural arts in Caldwell County by encouraging participation in a variety of arts events, promoting the arts, by cultural planning for the community, and by offering various educational opportunities and administrative services in support of artists, arts agencies and audiences. www.caldwellarts.com
http://www.ncarts.org/email/MarApr09/

Caldwell County Schools "Lending Laptop" Initiative

WHKY
Feb. 24, 2009
Google is teaming up with the Caldwell County School District to provide laptops for students on an overnight check out basis. This effort is part of our mission to make sure that data center communities receive technological assistance and resources that we can provide. Google donated 150 laptops for the “Lending Laptop” pilot program that is being developed by the Caldwell County School District. The school district will be in charge of the program's oversight and implementation. Google will provide technical assistance and advice, as needed.Read more at http://www.whky.com/news.asp?mode=detail&articleID=6187.